Illegitimate
by secretxpleasures
Summary: In a family of redheads, who is to know which child belongs to which brother? Only Hermione knows the truth of her infidelity. F/Hr and R/Hr; post-war fic.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own any characters of Harry Potter or the world in which they live. I only wish desperately to play in it once in awhile._

_Author's Note: Relatively canon to the novels, up until a bit before the final battle._  
_Rating: Strong M _

**Illegitimate**

In an honorable show of character, the Wizarding World righted itself after the final battle against Voldemort. It was as simple, clear, and utterly fantastic as that. Though many grieved over fallen loved ones, even they could feel the uplifting of their hearts due to a world at peace. Not a witch or wizard dwelled upon the possibility of another evil that would surely resurface in the future. For now, all was well. The-Boy-Who-Lived had vanquished the Dark Lord.

It was therefore with full hearts and open minds that Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, after laying to rest its fallen students and staff, chose to reinstate its graduation ceremony for the seventh year students. For, as a weepy Minerva McGonagall shared with her colleagues, it was the finest group of young minds she had ever seen Hogwarts relinquish to the Wizarding World.

It was to this elite group of students, and to an ever more elite group of three, that an eager, bright-eyed Hermione Granger belonged. Top of her class, and yet Muggle-born, she allowed herself to feel a great sense of pride as she dressed in her graduation gowns. She surveyed herself through the full-length mirror in her Head Girl dormitory. She had grown physically, indeed. Though emotionally she was far superior to the girl she had been only weeks ago.

She owed much of this emotional maturity to her two best friends. Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley had both bounced back from the battle with such exuberance for life, such bright eyes, that Hermione could no longer dwell on the terror and sadness that Voldemort had brought before his demise. She could no longer justify living anything but a life full of hope and high expectations. And tonight she would allow herself pride for the woman she had become, a woman her parents were so glowingly proud of themselves.

With one last appraising look in the mirror, she left her dormitory to meet Ron and Harry outside of the Gryffindor common room. As she stood in the hallway, Hermione thought of the life she had led at Hogwarts. Seven years full to the brim with memories: mischief, dances, classes, countless nights spent in the library, but mostly she thought of the two boys she would be seeing momentarily. She felt her heart swell when she thought of how lucky she had been to be cornered by that troll during first year. Something that, at the time, she never thought she would be grateful for. Of course, it had all been Ron's fault that she had nearly lost her life in that girls' lavatory. If she hadn't overheard him speaking ill of her, she never would have traipsed into the bathroom that day, eyes brimming with tearful hatred.

And oh how tears and Ron had become something of a trend for her over the past seven years. She blushed to herself when she thought of the endless nights she'd spent crying over the plain fact that he would never see her as more than a friend. He would never see her as anything more than what he saw Harry. It was just this past year, in fact, that Hermione had finally convinced herself to get over the unrequited feelings. Even a near genius like she could discern when someone would not soon see her as the woman she was. _Ancient history now_, she thought to herself as she heard the portrait of the Fat Lady swing open. Voices poured out towards her.

"But _four_ years, mate," Ron was saying, "do you realize how long that is for someone to…"

"Hermione!" Harry interrupted Ron's statement with the outburst. Hermione noticed that Ron seemed to be flushed. Most likely he had been in a hurry to get ready so as to eat everything that the graduation feast had to offer as soon as possible. Hermione smiled at her two friends.

"Shall we, boys?" She asked. Ron and Harry happily stood on either side of her, twining an arm through each of hers. The Trio chuckled as they nearly skipped the entire way to the Great Hall, stopping only when they reached the giant oak doors. Each marveled at the decorations strewn about the Hall, and the beautiful starlit ceiling which captured the outside twilight so well. It was here that they looked at each other and smiling, entered the Hall for one last dinner.

* * *

Hours later, the food had been partaken in, each student had received his or her golden diploma, and awards had been given out. Hermione had, not surprisingly, received the most scholarly awards in the history of Hogwarts.

"Just think," Ron had said to her, "someone will probably write this into the next edition of _Hogwarts: A History_." She knew he was teasing her, and yet she was elated by the very thought. Hermione Granger had now decided that there could be no day on Earth better than this. Awards were followed by a unanimous decision to fling graduation caps into the air, and soon after were photographs with family members. Hermione lingered with her parents, the Weasleys and Harry until it seemed absolutely necessary they leave. Both Harry and Hermione were following the entire Weasley clan back to the Burrow. She said her goodbyes to her parents; watched them exit the Great Hall with the other Muggle family members.

In moments, Hermione and the rest had apparated to the Burrow and she stared in awe at the lights strung upon the house. Before she could say anything, fireworks (likely compliments of Weasley Wizarding Wheezes) were shooting through the air to several 'ooohs' and 'aaahs.' Hermione felt someone come up behind her. Assuming it was Ron, Harry or Ginny, she said, "you know those twins can really accomplish some fantastic things when they put their hearts and minds to it."

"A bit corny and rather sentimental, but quite glad to hear you think so, Granger," Fred replied to her. She could hear the amusement in his voice and fought the urge to blush at her mistake.

"Fred, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that was you," Hermione stated the obvious. Fred chuckled, but then looked momentarily serious.

"How do you do that?" He asked her.

"Do what?"

"Tell us apart. George and I. Most of the members of our family still haven't learned how." Hermione laughed. She pulled her hand from her pocket and pointed to a small area on Fred's face, below his left eye.

"There. You have a little, oblong freckle under your eye. George doesn't have that," she said so matter-of-factly, Fred had to smile.

"What?"

"Hermione Granger, you are one of a kind. I don't think even I noticed that difference, love." Hermione, for reasons she didn't know, trembled slightly at his use of the affectionate word. Though she'd heard him use it often with other ladies, he'd never said it directly to her. She smiled and followed him into the Burrow with the rest of the clan.

* * *

After hours of good, clean, Weasley-party fun, Hermione realized that her earlier decision that no other night could be quite as great as this one was incredibly true. She looked around at the loved ones present: Bill and Fleur, Charlie, Percy and Penelope, the twins, Ron, Ginny, Harry, Mr. And Mrs. Weasley. Everyone that she had ever come to care for during the last seven years was there, celebrating and happier than she could ever remember them being at once. She watched as, one by one, they either apparated or trekked upstairs for a good night's sleep. Soon just she and Ginny remained downstairs.

"Are you coming up, Hermione?"

"In a minute, Gin, thanks." She watched as the tiny redhead followed where the others had scuttled off. Hermione wrapped the blanket she had inherited at some point in the night tighter around her shoulders, and stepped out the back door. Sitting atop a rickety Muggle picnic table, she looked into the clear sky. She marveled at the multitude of stars that hung above her head.

"Sickle for your thoughts," she heard Fred say from somewhere behind her.

"I thought everyone had gone to bed. What are you doing awake?" She asked him.

"Came down to check that all the lights were out. Surprisingly, I'm the only one in this house not entirely pissed tonight."

"Excuse me, I only had _one_ Butterbeer!" Hermione argued. Fred sniggered and sat down next to her. He threw a friendly arm around her shoulder, and pulled her closer to his warmth. Hermione absent-mindedly noticed that he had grown since his Hoqwarts days, had become more broad-shouldered, more solid. She noted that it seemed to match how Fred had grown, _slightly_, in maturity.

"In all seriousness this has been a bloody awful year, but the celebration tonight was well worth the wait." Hermione murmured an agreement to this.

"It was nice to see Harry, Ron… you so at ease for once. I thought for sure you three chaps would have gone and had a bloody stroke by now," Fred joked. Hermione playfully punched him in the chest.

"It is nice though... to be at ease," she told him. "Tonight was brilliant and I very much enjoyed your _lovely_ fireworks."

"Quite happy to be of service to you, m'lady," Fred replied in a voice that conjured images of dirty pirates in Hermione's head. She laughed with him as both turned to face each other.

"Watch this," he whispered, flicking his wand in a tight circle near Hermione's head. Her eyes twinkled as miniature maroon and gold fireworks began circling their heads before popping. Suddenly, a stray firework popped behind Hermione's ear causing her to lean closer into Fred in fright. They laughed together, and before Hermione could pull away she looked into his eyes. She could see some emotion there, one she could not describe.

"Hermione," Fred began, his voice suddenly much deeper than usual, "did you know you're beautiful?" Hermione could feel her face heating up and knew she must put distance between hers and Fred's. Before she could do that, he reached up and tucked an unruly strand of brown curl behind her ear. She could not pull her eyes away from his.

"Would you be absolutely horrified if I were to kiss you right now?" He asked in that deep, slow voice. Hermione could feel her heart fluttering against her ribcage and was not quite sure what words would come out of her mouth.

"Not at all," she heard herself say. Her eyes fluttered closed as Fred's hand, still behind her ear, buried itself in her curls, gently pulling her face toward his. Slowly he pressed his warm lips to her full ones in an urgent but soft kiss. Soon she opened her mouth to him at the insistence of his probing tongue. Hermione could feel her stomach flip-flopping as the kiss intensified. She could feel herself placing two tentative hands against Fred's chest as his other hand came up to frame the side of her face. It was the most passionate, beautiful kiss that Hermione had ever had and she couldn't imagine ending it even to breathe.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Hermione's mind was reeling the following day. From the moment she had awaken until late into the afternoon, she focused on one thing, one person. Just as she would treat a particularly difficult Arithmancy problem, Hermione ran through the elements of the kiss repeatedly. She thought of the short conversation she had had with Fred upon arriving at the Burrow. She thought of the few, fleeting glances she'd had of him during the party. She thought, most critically, of the conversation on the picnic table before the kiss. And then she would think of the kiss itself. And, time and again, when Hermione reached this part of her ponderings, she would lose her concentration and focus on the feel of Fred's lips upon hers. As soon as she would snap herself from her reverie, she would again begin to rethink each moment leading to _that_ moment.

She knew there must have been something she'd missed. Somewhere along the way either Fred Weasley had developed feelings for her or had decided, likely with George, that a prank on Hermione Granger would be most satisfying. She felt that was entirely too real a possibility to contemplate. But despite Hermione's musings over the kiss and why Fred Weasley might want to do such a thing with a frumpy bookworm like herself, her mind continuously came back to one very disturbing question.

_Did she enjoy kissing Fred because she imagined it was Ron?_ Sure she'd told herself that her feelings for Ron had magically disapparated, excuse the pun if you will, in the last year, but wasn't it quite possible that a kiss from him would bring them all rushing back in unwelcome? Hermione reminded herself, however; that she _wasn't_ kissing Ron. Though it would be so very easy in that desperately passionate moment for her to confuse Fred with his younger brother. After all, both shared the same flaming red hair through which she'd run her hands last night, both had developed the same tall, broad bodies in the last few years. In fact, Hermione marveled, Fred and Ron seemed the most physically alike out of all the other brothers, George included. Could she have done such a horrid misdeed to poor Fred? _No_, she chided herself; _no one could be so crass._ And then she would again remind herself that the entire phenomenon was likely a well-concocted hoax of the twins'.

To make matters worse, Fred was absent from the Burrow throughout the entire day. According to Mrs. Weasley, he and George were likely off at the main branch of WWW finalizing details for their grand opening at a second location. She expected they would return home for dinner, and why was Hermione so interested in the whereabouts of her two most trouble-making sons? To this, Hermione mumbled an excuse and left the kitchen, carefully avoiding the woman for the remainder of the day.

As dinner at the Burrow approached, Hermione grew more and more anxious. Never had she been more inclined to eat with the Weasley family. Her trademark as a bookworm allowed for her to sit quietly in a corner without interruption as she waited to be called to dinner.

At exactly half past six, Hermione heard the familiar call from Mrs. Weasley announcing dinner. She set down the book that she hadn't even attempted to read, and walked slowly down the flight of stairs leading to the kitchen. Just as she was sitting, thinking that the empty plates across from her were a telltale sign that Fred and George would not be back for dinner, she heard two unmistakable 'pops' in the family room.

"It's like those two can smell dinner from anywhere in the world," Mrs. Weasley muttered. "Fred! George! At the table now!"

Hermione could feel every nerve in her body stand at attention when she heard Fred and George enter the kitchen behind her. She could not yet see Fred's face but in moments he would be plopped down right in front of her, and she would have to act normally. _Normal_, she thought,_ is something I have completely under control._ At this, she looked up to see Fred sitting across from her, staring. Normal wasn't going to be so easy.

"Hermione," he said by way of greeting, a small smile gracing his beautiful lips. She could pinpoint no exact time as to when she began to think of his lips as beautiful. She simply nodded in response, looking down towards her plate. She knew immediately that she looked nothing like normal, but as usual the Weasley table was much too focused on other conversations and the plethora of food atop it to notice her odd behavior. As Hermione focused deeply on chewing each and every grain of food on her plate, she suddenly felt a foot brush across her ankle. She attempted to ignore the flutter in her stomach at the possibility of Fred's leg accidentally brushing against hers. She stubbornly refused to allow herself to pull her foot out of his reach, absently wishing it would happen again. It did. Several times. And slowly, the foot began to linger near her leg. As it began to lightly travel towards her knee, Hermione abruptly choked on a green bean she'd forgotten to chew.

"Hermione! Dear, are you alright?" Mrs. Weasley ran to her side, as Hermione continued to cough up the threatening green bean. She dimly registered Fred slip his foot back to his side of the table, a small grin on his face. As Hermione continued her coughing fit, she glared at Fred through watery eyes in a look that she hoped said, _what on earth were you doing_, rather than _why on earth did you stop?_ Once Hermione had finally started to breathe normally again, she realized the entire Weasley family was staring at her in silence.

"Bloody hell, Hermione. What's a'matter?" Ron asked between mouthfuls of potatoes.

"Went down the wrong pipe," she squeaked back. To which Ron stared at her quizzically.

"It's a Muggle saying," she began. "It means… oh, nevermind."

"You know, Hermione," Fred began, causing her to dart her eyes to his face, "now that you're all done coughing up that slimy green bean, I've been meaning to ask you if we could have a little chat. I need some girl advice." At this, everyone in the table swiveled to face Fred, questions spouting from each mouth rapidly. Ginny was last to comment.

"Fred! You can't ask your own _sister_?"

"Well lil' sis, as your older brother I assume that you have absolutely no romantic experience and would be of no help to me now," Fred stated while jokingly narrowing his eyes in Harry's direction. Everyone at the table laughed as he blushed.

"Honestly Fred, who is she?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"That's for me to know, and for all of you to find out… someday. Hermione? Care to walk around the grounds with me?" Hermione nodded, smiling at the rest of the family as though she hadn't a clue why Fred wanted to speak with _her_. She looked back to see everyone continuing with dinner, quite obviously believing Fred's tale.

They walked in silence for quite some time; Hermione suspected they were over a half-mile from the house before Fred spoke. She noticed they were at the edge of the Weasley property where many large trees bordered the yard. The house was almost unable to be seen over the hill they'd walked to get here. Certainly none of the other Weasleys could see either of them.

"So I have this friend," Fred began. Hermione looked at him with a smile on her face. She was quite surprised that Fred Weasley was going with the "I have this friend" line. She nodded for him to continue.

"… and he's had this horribly inconvenient crush on his little brother's best friend for longer than he'd like to admit. This girl, you see, is really quite breathtaking. She's beautiful, witty, and almost frighteningly intelligent. I say almost because this friend, he's actually much smarter than this frighteningly intelligent witch might ever guess." Hermione chuckled at this, almost allowing Fred's joke to take away from the beautiful words he'd just used to describe her. Beautiful words that Hermione herself would never have used. She attempted to interrupt his speech.

"Ahh, not done," Fred held up a finger to silence her. "The problem is that this friend knows very well that he is nowhere near good enough for the beautiful witch. He also knows that his little brother has feelings for the same girl, feelings that he has been way too crass to ever tell her about, but feelings all the same. This friend is… also realizing that he just said let out something that you had no idea of. Oh bloody hell, Hermione, I'm a git. Obviously, _I'm_ the friend." Hermione snorted, realizing that Fred honestly thought she might not have known. "I really thought you'd known all along that Ron had feelings for you but that he was just too much of a prat to tell you about them."

"No, I didn't. And had you told me this a year ago, it would have mattered," she said, realizing it was quite true. In this moment with Fred, Hermione had no desire to think of Ron or the feelings she'd had for him.

"Well, I meant what I said about having a horribly inconvenient crush on my little brother's best friend. And although Harry's quite attractive, I just couldn't do that to Ginny." Hermione began to laugh; she laughed so hard she felt tears forming in her eyes. She always felt so light-hearted when she was with Fred. As she felt her laugh dying, she suddenly felt strong hands around her upper arms, pushing her gently into one of the large trees. She opened her eyes to see Fred's face, and the little oblong freckle under his eye, only mere inches from hers. Her breathing became shallow.

"I didn't kiss you the other night, Hermione, because it just happened to be a good moment," Fred began in a husky voice that sent shivers down her spine. "I kissed you because it was something I wanted more than anything. And right now, I still want that more than anything… but it's also a really great moment." Both Hermione and Fred smiled before he leaned in, pressing his lips to hers. Moments later, she opened her mouth to his tongue, letting it discover every inch it could.

As his body continued to press her against the tree, his hands came up to tangle themselves in her hair. She brought both arms up around his neck, and the kiss became frantic. Both tongues were fighting for dominance, while his hands began to slide down her body. Hermione consented as Fred lifted her, spun, and then brought her down to the grassy hill beneath him.

She began to run her fingers through his hair while Fred lowered his mouth to the pale skin at the bottom of her neck, his hands still traveling down her body. Though she was focused on what was definitely the best kiss of her life, she noted how her skin prickled everywhere he touched her. He was slowly trailing the fingers of his right hand down her hips, while his left cradled the back of her head. The fingers on her hip stilled momentarily before traveling past her denim shorts to her bare thighs, where she literally believed that electricity was coursing from the tips of his fingers onto her skin. It was at this moment that although Hermione had never done more than kiss another boy and was sure Fred was much more experienced than she, she wanted nothing more than to rip off his clothes and let him have his way with her. The thoughts were insane, muddled with the desire she felt for him, and yet so real. Fred's hand slowly began to move back up her thigh, fingering the hem of her shorts and then slowly sliding beneath them. Hermione felt she would melt right there under him. Fred roughly grabbed hold of her upper thigh beneath the shorts as he rolled onto his back, bringing her on top of him. He brought his mouth to hers again, seeming to devour her lips. Both of his hands came around to cup her tiny, round ass, while she bravely stuck both hands underneath his shirt, slowly working them up to his chest.

"Wait," Hermione suddenly pulled away, noting the dark pools that were once Fred's blue eyes. "We can't keep going like this, not right now. I'm still a virgin," she blurted out. Fred smiled, sitting up and pulling her to the side of him.

"I know. I wouldn't have let it go that far, love." He looked towards the Burrow. "They'll be wondering where we've gotten to and you look anything but innocent at the moment," he took in her red lips, wild hair, and dark eyes. She laughed. "Hermione, I don't want to sound at all insensitive, but what I said about Ron before was true. He has feelings for you and although I was joking when I said I wouldn't do this to Ginny, I wouldn't do this to Ron, either. But I think I'm past the point of being able to stop myself. What I'm trying to say is... do you think we could just…"

"not say anything to anyone? Yes, Fred. That's… I completely understand," she looked at him, hoping he understood that _she_ understood the situation very well. He beamed at her, leaned over and kissed her forehead.

She grinned as they both turned to look towards the house. The summer was about to get a whole lot hotter.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"_Pario se_," she whispered, pointing her wand towards the twin-sized bed. Hermione had perfected this spell now, two weeks after she'd begun using it. It was odd, though, seeing a replica of herself asleep in the small bed. She turned to look at Ginny, snoring at the opposite end of the room. It would not do for her to wake in the middle of the night and see Hermione's bed empty. "Silencio," she whispered, just before apparating with a loud pop that Ginny would no longer be able to hear.

"Thought you'd never show," she heard the familiar voice as two strong arms wrapped around her from behind.

"Well, I thought your sister would _never_ fall asleep tonight!" Hermione turned in the arms and looked up into Fred's handsome face. She was in his room at the very top of the Burrow, as she had been every night for the past two weeks. It had been a month since the first kiss. As June had worn away into July, it was not only the weather that had gotten hotter.

During the first two weeks following the picnic table kiss, Hermione and Fred found any small excuse to get away for mere moments together. Each time, the kisses were hotter and heavier. Somehow, the rest of the Weasleys hadn't even become suspicious. It was after those first two weeks that Hermione began to realize she was ready for much more than kissing and groping. It was, ironically, at this very time that George confided to Fred he would be apparating to Katie's apartment every night after everyone fell asleep.

Mrs. Weasley was a bit old-fashioned, as all the Weasley children had come to learn. George, however; had decided that he could no longer spend his nights without his girlfriend. Fred relayed this information to Hermione and both seemed to be immediately under the impression that her nights would now be spent at the top of the Burrow with him.

George's first night away with Katie was the first night that Hermione gave herself to Fred. For all his teasing later on about her "cashing in her v-card at the Bank of Fred Weasley, and he hoped she enjoyed doing business with him," he had been unbelievably tender and loving during the act itself. In fact, he was tender and loving towards her _almost_ as often as he was funny and teasing.

The first time had been as she'd expected, uncomfortable and a bit awkward. However, Fred had done everything he could to ease her pain, and the repeat performance the following night was much better. Each night following had gotten better and better until she could not believe it _could _get any better. She pulled herself from Fred's arms momentarily.

"Silencio," she muttered again, ensuring that the actions occurring in this room would go unheard by the rest of the household.

"A silencing charm? Hmm. It seems you think we'll have some need to keep everyone from hearing what happens in this room tonight," Fred teased, giving her the smile he knew she could not resist.

"Fred Weasley, are you telling me that you intend to keep me quiet tonight?

"Absolutely not. I'll have you moaning my name in moments, as usual." The typical, sexual banter made Hermione smile. She leaned into Fred and pressed her lips against his. To an outsider, the kiss would seem innocent, but Hermione knew that Fred would turn up the heat soon. It always started innocently enough, just as their entire relationship had. She wondered every day why they still hadn't told his family; Ron had made no move to tell Hermione that he had any sort of feelings for her other than friendship, and in Hermione's mind, he had officially missed his chance. However, both she and Fred agreed that should Ron confess his feelings for her, they would end their affair immediately.

Her thoughts were cut off by Fred's tongue insisting she open her mouth to it. She granted it access, and smiled against his lips. He returned her smile, a low growl escaping from the back of his throat causing Hermione's panties to become considerably wetter than they had been. She deepened the kiss.

Fred broke away, looking into her eyes momentarily before pulling on her hand to follow him towards the bed. Once there, Fred pulled her on top of him and reattached himself to her lips. Both of his hands tangled themselves in her curls pulling her face closer to his. Her hands wandered to his shoulders, and then slowly made their way to the bottom of his t-shirt. She slipped one hand underneath it, and felt his skin quiver beneath her touch. She let her hand glide slowly down his abdomen to the very top of his boxer shorts. She smiled when Fred inhaled sharply in response to her fingers sliding beneath the shorts.

Hermione curled her fingers around Fred's already impossibly hard erection, watching as he tried to control his breathing. She freed it from his shorts, smiling at him behind her veil of hair. Slowly, she lowered her head and licked the tip of his cock, teasing. She did it again; when she heard him groan, she took all of him in her mouth.

"Hermione," he gasped, "when did you become such a vixen?"

In response, she swirled her tongue around the base of his throbbing penis. She felt it tremble. She continued sucking, bringing a hand up to cup his balls, and enjoying the feeling of him losing control beneath her. She wanted to suck him dry and leaving his breathing ragged; she wanted him to know what he'd done to her every night for the past two weeks. Just as she was beginning to taste the salty fluid slowly leaking from the tip of his cock, Fred buried his hands in her hair and pulled her head up to look at him.

"Another second of that and I'd be done. Your turn."

When Hermione tried to protest, he flipped her on her back, pinning her arms above her head. Fred lowered his mouth to hers, immediately thrusting his tongue into her mouth. Hermione moaned and arched her back toward him involuntarily. Fred moved his lips from her mouth to her jaw line to the base of her throat, where he nipped at her skin lightly, and sent shivers of pleasure through her body.

He moved his hands to the hem of her nightgown pulling it up so that it exposed her silk panties. He could see the dampness between her thighs, which only made his erection harder. He bent his head down, kissing her inner thighs and working his hand inside her panties.

Hermione gasped when he inserted one, then two fingers. He pulsated them quickly, hitting the same spot with every thrust and listening as her breathing became quicker and heavier. She began moving her hips upward with each thrust of his fingers. Fred lifted his head briefly so that he could remove her panties, but found it much easier to tear them off. Hermione sat up, staring at him in astonishment. Fred smiled in return, pushing her back to the bed and lowering his head to her hot center.

"Oh, Hermione, you're so wet for me," he said before plunging his tongue deep inside her. Hermione moaned loudly. Fred continued to thrust his tongue inside her tight pussy, occasionally sucking at her clit. Hermione could feel the now familiar tightening in her stomach. She tangled her hands in Fred's flaming red hair and felt the orgasm hit her. Fred continued to tongue her entrance as the juices spilled from her, and then pulled away when he felt her quivering begin to subside. Before Hermione could even get her breathing entirely under control, she looked at him with hooded eyes. He could see the desire spilling from them.

"Fuck me now, Fred. Please," she said quietly. Fred immediately pulled her shirt over her head, and pulled his boxers down his legs, tossing both to the floor. He positioned himself at her entrance between her wide-spread legs. He pressed his hand to her abdomen briefly.

"_Contraceptus_," he whispered. Hermione found it amusing to no end that the only wandless magic Fred had ever conquered was a contraception charm. In one thrust, he was entirely sheathed by her tight, throbbing walls. Both of them moaned in pleasure at the sensation of perfect completion. Fred began to thrust in and out at a steady pace, Hermione matching each of his thrusts until both were breathing heavily.

"Let me fuck you from behind," Fred whispered in her ear. Until now, they had stuck to the basics. Missionary mostly, though Hermione had ridden on top a few times. She nodded her head, and Fred pulled out, flipping her on her stomach. As Hermione got to her hands and knees, Fred admired the beautiful arch of her lower back where it came to meet the tight ass he'd so come to love.

"You're so fucking sexy," he said as she looked over her shoulder at him, eyes smoldering.

"I'll be even sexier when you're long, hard dick is back inside of me." Fred was shocked at Hermione's impressive use of dirty language, and immediately obliged. He lined his cock up with her entrance, and thrust inside again. The sensation for both was incredible. He stilled momentarily as she took in the feelings from this new position.

"Does that feel good?"

"Fucking amazing," she gasped. With those words, Fred began thrusting again. Faster this time, and deeper. He marveled at how tight and wet the beautiful girl in front of him was. After a few minutes of thrusting, Fred felt the walls of Hermione's pussy tighten around him. She began to quiver and yelled out his name as a second orgasm racked her body. Fred followed quickly, going limp as he emptied his seed inside her. He pulled out and fell back on the bed beside her. Both were breathing heavily. Hermione was seeing tiny black dots at the corners of her eyes.

"Well, that was okay," Hermione said with a smile. Fred looked at her from the corner of his eye. He laughed and pulled her against him. They lay together, sweating, her head on his chest until both succumbed to a deep, peaceful sleep.

* * *

Hermione woke with a start to a dark room. Fred's arm was draped over her and she thought of just curling back into his embrace and staying. But she knew it would not do for anyone to find her there. She sat up and looked at Fred's bedside clock, seeing the Muggle invention in his room sent a jolt of warmth through her. Four o'clock in the morning. She slithered out of Fred's arms and re-dressed, tip-toeing from the room and removing the silencing charm on her way to the door. She chose to walk down the stairs to Ginny's room rather than apparate. If Ginny happened to be awake, Hermione could pretend she'd gotten up to use the toilet.

She had a sour feeling in the pit of her stomach that things between Fred and her were going to be ending much too soon. She hadn't told Fred, but for the past week she had been avoiding Ron completely. He had attempted to ask her out the previous Monday, but she'd foiled his attempts. Well, to be completely honest, he'd never come around to any words that would suggest he were trying to ask her out, but she knew.

She had been sitting alone in the corner of the living room with a book. She supposed she looked thoroughly engrossed with the novel, but she hadn't really a clue what she was reading. She was, of course, thinking about her ongoing tryst with Fred. Ron had approached her with a curious smile on his face. When she asked him what he needed, he'd replied that he'd only come to chat. And then he'd sat on the couch next to her with a stupid grin on his face. It was the same stupid grin that Hermione had seen on him every time he'd ask a girl out during their time at Hogwarts. She would know, considering how closely she watched him when he flirted with other girls. And to think the prat had feelings for her the entire time he was breaking her heart. She had felt herself getting angry at him for never telling her, and then began to get angrier when she realized that a confession from him now would end everything she'd just begun with his brother. She'd made an excuse and hurried from the room. She hadn't let herself be alone with him since.

She couldn't explain what she really felt for Fred. She was pretty sure she was falling in love with him, but that could not happen. It couldn't. Fred might have told her he had a crush on her, but she often wondered if it weren't just really about the sex. It was great sex; she'd never deny that. But she couldn't wrap her mind around why Fred was still so insistent they say nothing to his family, and worse, why he insisted they break things off if Ron stepped in. In her honest opinion, Ron no longer had any right to her, but Fred was adamant that he couldn't let his brother know that he'd stolen his girl right out from under his nose. Hermione sighed and rolled over in the small bed, wishing she were still in Fred's warm arms. This would be another night where sleep would not come.

* * *

The next morning, Hermione woke after only falling asleep an hour earlier. It was just after nine o'clock and she had just heard Ginny leave the room. She sat up and rubbed her burning eyes. After pulling herself from the bed, she opened the door; coffee was the only thing on her mind. It took her a moment to register that Ron was standing in the hallway waiting for her. Her sleepy mind did not react quickly enough to get away.

"Hermione!"

"Why are you awake so early, Ron?"

"I needed to talk to you."

"I'm sure this could have waited. You're never up before noon. I was under the impression you didn't know what morning was." Ron laughed nervously before suddenly looking her right in the eyes.

"Would you like to go out for dinner tomorrow night? Like, as a date?" Hermione was too stunned to speak; she hadn't actually expected him to get around to this. Ron must have noticed the shock in her eyes.

"Bollocks, Hermione, I'm sorry. I meant to lead up to that with some really nice speech or something, but you make me nervous. I mean, you don't because you're my best friend. But you do. Because for the last four years… well, I didn't really want you to just be one of my best friends. But there was never a good time, and I was pretty sure you just thought I was a dimwit, which I am. And maybe you still do think that. I'm sorry; it's like I can't stop talking. The words _literally_ won't stop coming out of my mouth." Hermione couldn't help herself, she laughed. It was unfortunate she'd lost her romantic feelings for him because he was adorable when he was nervous. She didn't say anything for a while. Ron seemed to sense she needed a moment to consider. All she could think of was Fred and how much she wanted to tell Ron that he was too late. But then she remembered that she would be hurting Fred more by doing that.

"Sure, Ron. That would be really nice." The smile on his face made her smile, too. A real, genuine smile. He seemed so happy.

"Okay, let's say eight o'clock tomorrow night. I'll pick you up… right here?" Hermione laughed at Ron's undeniable boyish charm and watched him walk downstairs. With the unexpected smile still on her face, she turned to walk to the bathroom. She stopped when she saw Fred standing at the end of the hallway. She was sure there was no way she was seeing that look of betrayal on his face.

"Fred?" She wanted to kiss him so badly. Suddenly, he plastered a smile on his face. He walked towards her.

"Looks like someone has a hot date tomorrow night," he said quietly. There was no tone of happiness in his voice. Before Hermione could say anything, he walked away. She watched the figure of one brother disappear in the same direction the first had gone and wondered why her heart felt as though it were in a million pieces.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Hermione was sweating. The day was a real scorcher, and she'd offered to help Mrs. Weasley with her garden. Even with magic, the process of moving around flowers and weeding and mulching was making her wonder why she'd volunteered in the first place. She remembered when she heard the voices of several Weasley children and Harry over the hill.

They had all decided to play a rather competitive game of Quidditch, and thankfully no one questioned Hermione's declining the invitation to join due to their knowledge that she was terrified of mounting a broom. Truthfully, though, Hermione had declined because she couldn't bear to be in the same place as Fred and Ron together.

It had been three days since Hermione's first date with Ron. The evening had passed quite pleasantly, and there were even moments during the dinner when Hermione found herself not thinking of Fred. She had a creeping suspicion, however; that her enthusiasm during the date was due to her long-suppressed crush resurfacing when Ron finally declared his feelings for her.

What made the whole situation even worse was Fred's behavior around the two of them. He didn't let Hermione see anything akin to disappointment or sadness again after the morning Ron had asked her out, instead; Fred teased the two of them endlessly. Of course this was something that everyone else in the house saw as entirely normal, but Hermione felt a sting in her heart with every teasing word or lewd joke. Yesterday, Fred had even gone as far as telling Ron to call him up if he needed any tips on how to please Hermione in the sack. Ron had turned a bright shade of red, naturally, but suspected nothing other than his brother's incessant sense of humor. Hermione had also turned a bright shade of red, and although everyone else assumed it was embarrassment she knew from the look on Fred's face that he realized it as barely contained anger. He had let off the jokes for the remainder of the day.

And so today, she had already been doing a magnificent job of ignoring both of them. Fred more so than Ron. As she stood up from the rhododendron she was weeding around, she spotted several red heads and one jet-black coming over the hill. Before she could make an excuse to retreat into the house, she heard a rapid fluttering at her shoulder. She turned to see a young owl with a bright yellow envelope clasped in its claws addressed to her. The owl flew away after the envelope was safely in her hands, and Hermione turned it over to see the Ministry's seal on the back. Her heart hammered in her chest. She carefully tore open the envelope and read through the first few lines of the letter.

"Oh goodness, I've been given the job!" She squealed. Mrs. Weasley came rushing over at her words.

"The Muggle Relations job? Oh, Hermione, I'm so proud of you! Of course I knew you would be hired. A smart, young witch like you must have so many opportunities. Oh, we will have a great celebratory dinner tonight!" She hugged Hermione tight enough that she almost believed her ribs would crack. When Mrs. Weasley pulled back, her face was suddenly somber.

"It is a bit bittersweet though, isn't it?" And it was. Weeks ago when Hermione had interviewed for the job, she had let everyone know that if she were to be hired, she would be immediately finding a flat of her own.

"It is. But of course I will be visiting all the time!" She said, noticing that this brought another smile to the older woman's face. Mrs. Weasley furiously wiped her dirty hands against her apron and turned towards the group coming down the hill.

"Hermione got the job at the Ministry!" She yelled. "Tonight, we celebrate!" Hermione could only laugh at Mrs. Weasley's announcement and the sounds of whooping and cheering coming from her friends. One by one they ran up to her, squashing her with hugs and ruffling her hair. At the end of the line was Fred. Hermione was suddenly struck again by a hammering heart, and was again aware of just how sweaty the hot July air had made her. Before she could plan an escape route, Fred enveloped her in a tight hug, one that likely looked brotherly but felt anything but.

"Congratulations," he whispered in her ear, sending shivers down her spine. When he pulled back, he too looked somber. Hermione knew he was wondering if he would ever see her once she left the Burrow. If she was able to do such a great job at avoiding him while they lived under the same roof, imagine what could be accomplished when she was further away.

Hermione watched as the gang followed Mrs. Weasley into the house to help her prepare for dinner. She was alone with her letter in one hand, and a clump of weeds in the other. She looked into the sun, which was beginning to set but taking none of the heat with it. She suddenly felt her eyes prick with tears, and began wiping at them furiously should anyone come out to see her. When she finally felt composed, she turned and walked back into the house, never noticing the two sets of Weasley eyes watching her from windows above.

* * *

That night, Hermione felt as though she were back at the beginning of June, celebrating with the Weasleys like she had the night she, Ron, and Harry had graduated from Hogwarts. Although both Charlie and Percy were unable to attend, Bill and Fleur had floo'd in, and Mrs. Weasley had, to Hermione's pleasure, invited Neville and Luna.

Hermione enjoyed the lovely dinner that Mrs. Weasley had created, and then enjoyed hours of laughing with her friends under the influence of several tall glasses of Butterbeer and a few shots of Firewhiskey. She was even able to enjoy herself around both Fred and Ron.

As the night wore away, Hermione found herself sitting outside on the grass near the infamous picnic table. She sat in a circle with Harry, Ron, Ginny, Neville, Luna, Fred and George. Bill and Fleur had apparated home hours before, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had just retired for the night. The group sat quietly at first in the warm, late-night air and looked up at the stars.

"It's hard to believe we're really growing up," Neville said wistfully, looking around at them all.

"Yeah, I think we've had enough life experience to get a little vacation for a while," Ron said. Hermione and Harry nodded their heads quickly, and everyone laughed with them. Hermione looked at Harry and Ron.

"When do you two start your Auror training?" Harry and Ron had learned immediately following graduation that they had been accepted into Auror positions.

"End of August," Harry said. "The Ministry was kind enough to understand that after vanquishing a Dark Lord, we might need a little time to recuperate," he smiled.

"Well, I think I should be heading out," Neville said. "It's getting rather late." Everyone murmured his or her agreement. They watched as Neville took Luna's hand and she smiled at him. They were quite adorable together, although Hermione was certain they hadn't come to that realization yet. After Neville and Luna apparated away, everyone stood up, signaling the end of a wonderful night. As Harry, Ginny, Fred and George were walking into the house, Ron turned to Hermione.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Hermione noticed Fred falter, and look back at her. Ron had his back to Fred, unable to notice the look in Fred's eyes.

"Sure," Hermione said, a sense of panic rising in her throat. She watched as Fred turned away, and walked into the house after his brother. Ron pulled Hermione over to the picnic table and motioned for her to sit down. How ironic.

"Hermione, I really like you. Obviously, I mean, you're one of my best friends. But for four years, I've liked you a lot more than I should. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I hope you moving into your own flat doesn't affect what we've finally started. I mean, I would understand if…"

"Don't be silly, Ron," Hermione interrupted. "I'm only going to be a short apparition away, no matter where I go. Although I suspect I'll stay in Diagon Alley somewhere. Anyway, I've waited a long time for this, too. Longer even than you did." Ron grinned at her, and brought his hand up to brush a stray curl from her face. Hermione was having a sick sense of déjà vu. However, when Ron suddenly leaned in and pressed his lips to hers, she forgot all about Fred for a few, blissful moments. She opened her mouth to Ron, and realized that she thoroughly enjoyed kissing him. The thrill in her stomach of finally getting to this point with the boy she'd cared for for so long only increased when Ron tangled his hands in her hair. But suddenly, she pulled back. He looked worried for a moment, until she smiled at him.

"Ron, I'd like to do that again… when I'm not in a haze of Butterbeer or Firewhiskey."

"Me too," he agreed, taking her hand and leading her into the Burrow.

* * *

"No, no… I said put it in the corner of the room!" Hermione pointed towards an empty corner of the tiny living room. Ron huffed and dropped his wand.

"Blimey, Hermione! I don't know what you want!"

"Don't lose your temper, Ron. It's her first flat; she is _allowed_ to be picky!" Ginny said, smiling at a very frustrated Hermione. It was only a few days after the party at the Burrow, and Hermione had already found a one-bedroom flat and had enlisted the help of Harry, Ron, and Ginny to help her move her things in. Even with magic, the task was daunting. Hermione sighed and sat down on the couch; sweat was pouring from her forehead and down her back. It was almost August now, but the heat still was not letting up. It was the hottest summer she could remember, not including the year she had visited Egypt with her parents.

When Ron had finally levitated the bookcase into the corner of the room, Hermione realized with pleasure that after four hours the moving process was finished. The other three plopped down next to her and looked around. The apartment was tiny, but it seemed to fit Hermione perfectly. Bookshelves were strewn throughout the living room and bedroom, making her feel immediately at home. The four sat reminiscing for nearly an hour before Harry and Ginny decided to head back to the Burrow.

"So, are you… excited… to be here all alone?" Ron asked when they had disapparated.

"Well, when you put it like that, no." Hermione looked around. "I've never lived alone before!"

"I can stay tonight, if you want."

"Don't be silly; your mother would have a fit!"

"So I'll go home for dinner and apparate back here when everyone goes to sleep." Hermione smiled.

"Like George?"

"What?"

"Nothing," Hermione said quickly, realizing Fred must not have told anyone else about George's nightly adventures. The ones that took place at the same time that she and Fred were creating their own adventures.

Ron leaned in and kissed her, chastely, promising to return in a few hours. Hermione looked around the apartment, and though her worries about staying alone were still there, she felt invigorated to be out in the world.

* * *

Ron returned a little after ten that night. Hermione was sitting on the couch, nose in a book. There was a half-empty glass of wine on the table next to her, and the only forms of light were several candles strewn about the room. Ron smiled, and leaned down to kiss her forehead.

"How was your evening, beautiful?" He said, surprising Hermione with his tasteful compliment. She smiled up at him.

"Quite lovely, actually. I made dinner, showered, and have been sitting here with my glass of wine and this book ever since." She shut the book and put it on the table next to her wine. Maybe it was the alcohol, though she'd barely had any, but Hermione was very happy to see Ron sitting next to her. She leaned in and kissed him tentatively at first. He responded enthusiastically. Hermione opened her mouth to his tongue, and let herself enjoy the feelings he was creating in her entire body.

"You're beautiful, Hermione," Ron said before returning to the kiss. They sat on the couch for what felt like an hour, making out like teenagers, touching and caressing everywhere their hands could reach. Hermione pulled back suddenly and looked into Ron's eyes; saw they were just as clouded as hers must be. She licked her lips and before she could change her mind, stood up and grabbed his hand. The question in Ron's eyes was answered as Hermione led him to her bedroom. She pulled him inside and shut the door behind her. If Hermione couldn't have Fred, she was sure as hell going to enjoy what she had with Ron.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Hermione was very upset. She lay in bed with only a ratty t-shirt and a pair of pink, cotton panties covering her body. Ron had apparated back to the Burrow at the crack of dawn and Hermione had lain awake ever since. It had been Ron's first time last night, which had surprised Hermione given his publicly inappropriate relationship with Lavender Brown in their sixth year. And although if Hermione were being entirely honest, Ron did not nearly compare with Fred, it wasn't the sex that had her upset now. In fact, Ron did rather well. He kissed her in all the right places, spent a good deal of time on foreplay, and even lasted much longer than she had expected, considering. He'd even _almost_ given her an orgasm. She'd had to finish the job herself in the bathroom after he'd dozed off, but no, this still was not the reason that Hermione was upset.

Hermione was upset with herself, because she'd _lied_. Outright lied to Ron just moments before he made love to her. He had expected that she, too, was a virgin… and why shouldn't he? So, he'd asked just before he'd planned on entering her. Hermione had swallowed deeply, realizing that she could not tell Ron she was a virgin because it would be obvious she was not. So, after only a few seconds of thought, she'd told him. She'd told him that she'd have sex with Viktor the summer after their fourth year. It was a blatant lie. Hermione would never have done such a thing at that age, and besides, she hadn't even seen Viktor that summer. But she couldn't very well tell Ron that his brother had taken her sacred virginity only a few weeks earlier.

Ron stared into her eyes at first. He looked disappointed and Hermione could understand why. Thankfully, though, he seemed to come to the conclusion that making love to her then was more important than an argument over a man she hadn't spoken to in years.

And so she lay in her bed on an already too warm Sunday morning, thinking about how much she despised herself. Thinking about the very fact that everyone knows you can't begin a successful relationship on a lie. It was like a foundation of sand, and eventually she knew it would crumble in on her.

* * *

As August wore on, Hermione began to let the worry of her lie fade into almost non-existence. The following weeks brought her and Ron closer, as he was the only person she'd really had time to see. Training for her new job in Muggle Relations was tiring and time-consuming. Despite the fact that Hermione was as close to a muggle as anyone in the department could be, they insisted she learn every rule and regulation before she could begin her work.

She often brought work home with her, and at these times was overly thankful that she'd already settled into her new flat. The peace and quiet allowed her to concentrate, and the warm lump of Crookshanks in her lap was often the only companionship she needed after a long day at the Ministry. Ron did come over nearly every night, though. His bedroom skills had improved immensely, and even with his upcoming departure for Auror training, Hermione felt that their relationship was solid. It may have only been nearing a month, but the friendship they'd had for seven years before this made it possible to feel as though they'd been dating for years.

Hermione caught herself daydreaming in the office. She was on her lunch break, or _should_ have been on her lunch break. In fact, she sat at her desk with an unfinished yogurt next to her, pouring over the final book of protocols for Muggle Relations. She looked up as a pink memo flew into the room and plopped itself on her desk. She recognized the frilly paper immediately. It was from the Department Head, Margaret Flemmings, a nice woman but a bit on the curious side. Hermione read through the note, which instructed she meet with Ms. Flemmings immediately.

She quickly gathered her folder and several loose leaf papers on her desk, tossing the yogurt into a trash can on her way out. She shifted the papers in her arms as she shut the door to her office. As she turned without looking where she was going, Hermione ran directly into something solid and warm. Two arms reached out and grabbed her before she lost her balance. Without looking into the face of whomever she had just nearly knocked over, she bent to retrieve the fallen papers, shaking her head.

"I'm dreadfully sorry," she began, "I'm an absolute disaster sometimes! I was in such a hurry…"

"I didn't mind all that much," the voice said back to her. Fred. Hermione looked up quickly, not sure whether or not she wanted her ears to have heard correctly. But there he stood, beaming down at her with his lopsided grin. The freckle under his eye stretched with his smile. Hermione stood up quickly, brushing the dust from her skirt.

"Well, in that case, I'm not all that sorry," she said playfully.

"Hermione, ah, it's been over a month since I've seen you. I knew you'd disappear once you left the Burrow," he said, sounding as though he were only half-joking.

"Oh Fred, I haven't disappeared! I've just been so busy training," she motioned to the piles of paper in her arm. "What are you doing here?

"I had to stop by for some papers for the shop. We've still got plenty of paperwork to fill out for the new location we opened this summer. I thought I'd stop by and say hello. Do you have a minute? Could we grab tea or coffee?" Hermione was torn. She looked down the hall to Ms. Flemmings' closed door, and then to a clock on the wall behind Fred's head. What harm could five minutes do?

"Sure, come in my office. I only have a few minutes; I'll conjure us some tea." Fred followed her into the small office, closing the door behind them. He watched as she set the folders on her desk, and quickly conjured tea into two mugs she'd had in the office. She handed him a mug and leaned on the edge of her desk, sipping the hot beverage, and looking at him expectantly.

"So…" he began, taking a sip of the tea. "Good tea," he lifted the cup towards her in acknowledgment. She nodded.

"How are you?" He asked.

"Oh, just fine. Lots of work with training, like I'd mentioned earlier, so I haven't had much time for anything else…"

"Ron seems happy," Fred said, cutting her off. He smiled at her sadly.

"He is happy," she agreed. "He's very happy, I think. He leaves for Auror training soon… in fact, oh my, tomorrow," she said, clearly consulting a mental calendar somewhere in her brain. "I've been so busy; I didn't realize how fast time was going."

"How long will he be gone?"

"Just a week. The bulk of training is here at the Ministry, but for the first week, all of the prospective Aurors get shipped away to some… top secret location." Hermione shrugged. "It'll be just Crookshanks and me at the flat for awhile. I can't say I won't enjoy the alone time," she smiled at Fred. "How are you, Fred?" She asked more seriously.

Fred stood up and walked forward so that he was only inches from her. Hermione felt her heart rate increase at the proximity, and watched as Fred set his half-empty tea cup on the desk beside her. He didn't move away before answering.

"Oh, just fine," he said, mimicking her answer. He said this in an almost whisper, his voice a bit hoarse, reminding Hermione of the nights they'd spent together. His mouth was right next to her ear, and his hot breath tickled the side of her neck. It sent unwanted shivers to the very tips of her fingers and toes. Fred pulled back a bit so that he could look at her. She saw lust in his eyes, no doubt, but something else as well. Sadness? Need? She was sure it could not be either. After all, it had been Fred's very adamant decision that they end the affair should Ron step in. Well, Ron stepped in and things had ended. He had no right to look sadly at her. However, for as much as Hermione wanted to be angry with Fred, she could focus on nothing but his eyes staring into hers, and the way his face seemed to get a bit closer after a few seconds. Hermione could feel the tea cup she held with both hands pressing into her body as Fred's body pressed closer to her. Fred's hand came up and brushed a piece of hair behind her ear.

"Fred…" Hermione said, a bit of warning in her voice even as she felt her eyes begin to close in anticipation. She felt his lips descend upon hers, feather light, tentative. Just as she felt she was about to dive into the kiss, she heard an incessant tapping on her office door. Fred broke away and stepped to the side. Hermione smoothed her skirt, walking quickly to the door. She opened it to find another pink memo hovering. Its edges were tattered from throwing itself against her office door. She grabbed the memo and hurried to her desk, swiping up her folder and the mountain of papers in one quick motion.

"I have to go; I have a meeting," she said quickly, without looking at Fred. "Close my door on your way out, please." And she left, not bothering to glance back at the man she'd left in the room.

* * *

Hermione was in the kitchen, standing over a pot of soup. One that she had poured from a can, mind you. Hermione Granger was never going to be a domestic goddess. She heard a pop in the living room, and smiled when Ron wrapped his arms around her. She turned in his arms, and placed a quick kiss on his lips.

"That's all I get after a _long_ day away from you?" Hermione smiled and leaned in again, kissing him longer this time.

"Did you tell your mother you wouldn't be home for supper?"

"Yeah, although I can see what a mistake I made. I'm missing a good home-cooked meal for… a can of soup?" Hermione swatted him playfully.

"You can't say I didn't warn you. Besides, I've gone through the trouble to heat in up on the stove."

"I see that," Ron said, dipping a finger into the soup and licking it clean. "It really does make it taste _so much_ better." Hermione pinched his side lightly.

"Oy! You know I'm ticklish," Ron said, backing away slowly from Hermione.

"Oh yeah?" Hermione smiled viciously, and started towards Ron who ran towards the living room. When she rounded the corner, he grabbed her from where he stood on the other side of the wall causing her to squeal in fright. She giggled as Ron lifted her in the air, and then dropped her on the couch. He brought his body down over her.

"This is what happens when you try to tickle me," Ron said, smiling.

"You trap me on my own couch?"

"No, I make love to you," he said, bringing his mouth down to cover hers. Hermione sighed into the kiss.

"I'll have to attack you more often," she murmured against his lips. Ron wasted no time in tearing Hermione's shirt off and trailing his mouth down her collarbone and over her small breasts. Hermione arched into him when he kissed just above the line of her skirt. Ron sat up and pulled his shirt over his head. Hermione's hands began exploring his bare chest as he leaned down to kiss her again. The kiss nearly took her breath away with its urgency.

"I'll miss you while I'm away," Ron managed to say when he pulled away from her lips. His hand lazily traced circles and swirls over her belly, which caused the most wonderful sensations inside her.

"Me too," she said as Ron's hand traveled to the top of her skirt. She inhaled sharply at his touch. "Ron, I need you." He smiled down at her.

"Happy to oblige," he answered while moving his hand to the zipper at the side of her skirt. Just as his fingers grasped the cool metal, the muggle fire alarm that Hermione installed in the kitchen began beeping incessantly. "What in the bloody hell?" Ron yelled, sitting upright.

"Oh! The soup!" Hermione scrambled out from beneath Ron and hurried to the pot of soup. Black steam was pouring out into the kitchen. Ron hurried in behind her, waving a dish cloth underneath the fire alarm until it stopped its nagging. Hermione stared sullenly into the pot.

"You might want to go to the Burrow for dinner, after all."

"You burned canned soup," Ron said incredulously.

"It wasn't just _my_ fault," Hermione said, poking his bare chest and then looking down at herself, half-dressed and standing over a pot of burned soup. She shook her head, and then began laughing. Ron joined in her laughter soon, and pulled her close to him, kissing the top of her forehead.

"Bloody hell, it's a good thing I never wanted to marry a domestic goddess anyway," he said lightly, seemingly unaware of what he'd said, at all. Hermione tried not to let her inner feelings betray themselves, and instead nestled her head closer to Ron's chest. His comment reminded her suddenly of what had happened in the office earlier. She hadn't mentioned to Ron that she had run into Fred, though he hadn't yet asked how her day was. The thought of ever marrying Ron made the entire situation so unbearably real that Hermione felt tears sting the corners of her eyes, but fought them away. Ron was very happy, she reminded herself. She'd told Fred, and she'd meant it. Ron was very happy, and she would be damned if she were to take that happiness away.

* * *

_Oh man, I'm almost upset with myself for making Ron so likeable in this story. Darn it. But it must be done. Anywho, the next chapter is about to get into the heart of this story, so it's going to get a bit crazy. After that, the time jumps are going to be bigger… and I've just realized that it's going to be entirely soap-opera-worthy. Gotta love drama! XD_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Hermione Granger was beginning to think that she should have stayed single longer. It had been only two days since Ron had left with Harry for Auror training, and Hermione was already realizing that alone time was something to be cherished. Not that she hadn't enjoyed the last month she'd spent with Ron, but being with only Crookshanks for the last two nights allowed her to blissfully forget her relationship worries. The words that Ron had spoken the night before he left were etched into her mind. She wouldn't soon forget them.

She tapped her quill against the parchment she had been staring at. Work was rather boring now that her training had finished. Hermione discovered that other than a load of paperwork daily, there was not much to be done in Muggle Relations these days. There was a knock on her office door.

"Come in," Hermione said, looking up to see Ginny walking through the door. "Gin! What are you doing here?"

"I had to stop by to bring dad's lunch. Mum freaks out when he forgets it, and I didn't really have much else to do. Anyway, I wanted to stop by and ask if you're free Friday night."

"Of course. With your brother and Harry gone, I really don't have a social life," Hermione smiled at the look on Ginny's face. "Don't say anything about how I never have a social life anyway; I'm perfectly happy with my life. Anyway, what's going on Friday night?"

Ginny sat down across from Hermione's desk and adjusted her dress. "Oh, just getting the girls together to go out. I know you aren't a big fan of clubs, but I'm so bored with Harry gone. I thought it would be a great opportunity for all of us girls to go out together. Besides, unlike you, I have to go back to school next week."

"Who will be out?"

"Probably just Angelina and Katie. I'm pretty sure George and Fred are planning on showing up, but I'm pretending they won't."

"Oh. Oh, well… I'll have to see how I feel that night. I'm really not fond of the club scene."

"Please? Hermione, you're my best friend and it's going to be awful at Hogwarts without you there." Hermione watched as the expression on Ginny's face had gone from excited to disappointed as she spoke. She couldn't say no to the younger girl in front of her.

"Okay, fine. I'll see you Friday." Ginny smiled brightly and left the office. Hermione sat back in the chair and sighed. She truly hoped that Fred and George would not show up on Friday night.

* * *

Friday night came faster than Hermione had hoped. She stood staring into a full-length mirror in her bedroom debating whether or not to wear the dress she had purchased the day before with Ginny. It really wasn't her at all, but she couldn't deny to herself that it made her look wonderful. It fell above the knee, much shorter than she would normally prefer, and hugged her curves. It was fire-engine red; she knew she would stand out.

"What do you think, Crookshanks? Should I do it?" The big, orange furball rubbed against her ankles in response. Hermione bit down on her lower lip, a nervous habit she'd developed over the years. She tried to convince herself that she wasn't dressing like this for Fred. She tried to convince herself that she honestly hoped he wouldn't be out. A pop in the living room announced Ginny's arrival.

"Hermione? Are you ready?" Hermione strolled out to the living room, strappy shoes in her hands.

"Ginny, I'm not so sure about this dress…" she began. The younger witch turned around and gasped.

"Hermione! There is _no_ way I'm allowing you to change. You look fantastic; guys will be crawling over themselves to get to you!"

"That's not a good thing, Gin."

"Of course it is! It will be fun to watch, and besides, I won't tell Ron that you were _tempting_ other men." Ginny said this while waggling her eyebrows at Hermione. Hermione responded by hitting her in the shoulder with her handbag, and both witches burst into laughter.

"We should go," Ginny said when she'd caught her breath, "we're meeting the girls at this great club in muggle London." Hermione apparated with Ginny after stepping into her shoes, and the girls set off for the club together from the alley they had arrived in.

The first thing she noticed as they approached the entrance was Katie Bell standing outside with a tall redhead. Hermione felt her throat constrict at the sight of George leaning against the wall. She had a sneaking suspicion he hadn't come without his twin. Katie turned to see Ginny and Hermione approaching.

"Ginny! Hermione! I'm sorry; George just decided to show up!" Katie glared at George, clearly indicating to him that he was not supposed to interrupt the girls' night. Ginny laughed.

"It's okay, Katie. I knew he and Fred would show up; they are my brothers after all." She walked over and hugged her friend; they began walking into the club together talking about how long it had been since they'd last seen each other.

"Honestly," George said to Hermione as she approached him, "you'd think it had been years rather than weeks since they'd last gotten together. " Hermione laughed and attempted to swallow her nervousness. "Shall we?" George asked, indicating the door of the pub. Hermione nodded. "By the way, Miss Granger, you look striking tonight," George said in a mock suave voice.

"Oh, thank you, Mr. Weasley," Hermione said with a smile, turning towards the crowded dance floor. The minute George had opened the door Hermione felt the thumping bass in her very core. She knew immediately that coming had been a mistake, and upon scanning the room, that assumption increased ten-fold. Her eyes landed on a tall redhead just like the one next to her in the middle of a mass of bumping, grinding bodies. In front of him was Angelina, moving her body against his in a way that made Hermione very uncomfortable. She watched Fred's hands roam the other witch's body as they danced together. Hermione felt her eyes prickling. She cleared her throat and turned back towards the door.

"Are you alright, Hermione?" George asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. She faked a smile for him.

"Oh, yes... just fine. I think I must have walked into a cloud of smoke or something. My eyes just started watering like crazy. I'll be just fine. Where's the table the girls are at?" George pointed to a table in the corner of the room past the dance floor. "Looks like Ginny and Katie are over there. Care to brave the masses with me and attempt to make our way over?" Hermione nodded. She vowed to not let seeing Fred affect her again that night.

She walked behind George with her head down, her hand in his as he pushed through dancing bodies. He stopped momentarily when a particularly stubborn girl refused to move out of his way just as Hermione lifted her head and found herself staring into Fred's eyes. He was still dancing with Angelina just to the left of where George had stopped. Fred's eyes widened; clearly, he had not expected Hermione to brave the club atmosphere. His hands immediately stopped caressing parts of Angelina's body though he continued to dance behind her. Angelina was seemingly unaware of Hermione's presence at all. Hermione finally tore her eyes from Fred's face, looking down again as George began to move.

When she and George had successfully made their way off the dance floor, Hermione immediately ordered a drink at the bar next to the table.

"Hermione? You're in a club _and_ you're drinking?" Ginny laughed.

"It's not unheard of, Gin, I _do _drink sometimes." She looked back into the crowd and saw Fred and Angelina coming towards their table. Hermione averted her eyes to the drink in her hand.

"Hermione, fancy seeing you at a place like this," Fred said. He was now completely ignoring Angelina at his side, and watching Hermione intently. Everyone knew how much Hermione hated "clubbing" and laughed at Fred's statement, seemingly unaware of how interested he had become in her.

"First time for everything. I guess it was time for a change," she said, darting her eyes to Angelina momentarily. Fred looked at the witch next to him, and Angelina smiled.

"Yes, well, I believe I'm done dancing for a while. I can't keep putting you to shame, Ang."

"Keep telling yourself that, Fred," Ginny said. "Angelina, I'll dance with you. I've been dying to dance all week. Come on!"

"Oy, me too!" Katie called after them, grabbing George's hand. "Come on, George!" She pulled him onto the dance floor, and Hermione watched as they disappeared into the crowd. In a matter of seconds, she and Fred were alone at the table. Fred sat down across from her.

"What are you doing here, Hermione?"

"Trying to have fun. All I ever do is work and read. I figured one night out wouldn't kill me." She snorted at the look on Fred's face of disbelief. "Okay, fine. Ginny begged me to come."

"That's what I figured. How have you been? When does Ron come back?"

"I'm fine. Everything's fine. He'll be back Sunday." They were both silent for a moment. "I think I need another drink," she said, standing up next to the table. Fred inhaled sharply upon finally seeing what she was wearing.

"Bollocks, Hermione, are you trying to get molested tonight?"

"Thanks a lot," she said, feeling herself getting angry and embarrassed.

"No, sorry… that came out terribly. That was supposed to be a compliment, I think. Bloody hell, Hermione, you look beautiful." Fred sort of whispered the last part, and Hermione felt chills run down her spine. Fred stood up, coming close in front of her. "Dance with me." Hermione laughed out loud.

"No way. I do _not_ dance." Fred pulled on her hand.

"Please?" Hermione looked into his eyes and felt herself melting. She reluctantly followed him to the music, but stood in the dance floor without moving at all. The beat of the song was quick but sensual. Bodies moved all around her, sweating and swaying. Fred turned her around so that her back was against him and placed his hands on her hips. He began to sway his hips with the music and used his hands to sway hers. In moments, they were moving against each other as though they had done this a million times.

"I'm not really sure why you don't dance, Hermione," Fred whispered into her ear, sending shivers across her skin. She closed her eyes and leaned back into him further, hearing him groan with the contact. She was losing herself in the feeling of being so close to him, but suddenly forced herself back into reality.

"I can't do this," she said, making her way into the crowd and towards the door before he could stop her. Fred followed through the crowd. He found George quickly.

"Hey, mate, Hermione's got this awful headache. I'm going to make sure she apparates home safely. I'll just see you later." George nodded, completely oblivious to the urgency in Fred's voice. Fred walked out the door of the club in time to see Hermione disappearing into an alleyway. He followed her, and apparated himself to her flat when he found the alley deserted.

Hermione heard a pop behind her just after she had apparated into the living room of her flat. She turned around to see Fred panting and still sweating from the heat of the club.

"Fred, you should leave," Hermione's voice cracked. "We can't be doing this; we shouldn't have danced tonight." Fred shook his head and took a step towards her. Hermione took a step backwards. "Fred, please… you need to leave." Hermione turned and began walking towards the hallway that led to her bedroom. Fred rushed towards her, grabbing her wrist and spinning her around to face him. Without saying anything, he pushed his body into hers so that her back was pressed against the wall. Fred crushed his lips against hers, and Hermione immediately opened her mouth to him. His tongue explored her mouth passionately, soon remembering the familiar territory. Hermione moaned against him, and pressed her body into his. Fred pulled away, and both were breathing heavily.

"Hermione, I love you… I love you. I can't think about anyone other than you. It physically hurts without you," Fred's voice came out in hushed urgency. Hermione felt a tear fall from her eye.

"I'm in love with you, Fred." It was all she could manage to choke out before Fred's lips were on hers again, soft yet passionate. He lifted her from the ground and began walking towards her bedroom as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

He kicked the door closed behind him and laid her down on top of the comforter. He continued to kiss her as he ran his hand down the side of her body. Hermione arched into him. Fred pulled away, his face only inches from hers. He simply looked into her eyes. Both knew what the other was thinking. They knew they were in bad territory, but they knew they didn't care. Hermione reached her hands up and began to tug at Fred's shirt. Fred stood up and pulled the shirt over his head, throwing it to the side of the room and coming back down to kiss her.

Hermione sat up as Fred slowly pulled the zipper down at the back of her dress. Suddenly they both felt frantic, pulling at the remaining clothes on their bodies and tossing them to the ground. Hermione lay back on the bed as Fred hovered over her. He trailed his hot kisses down her neck and between her breasts. Hermione moaned as his mouth trailed farther down her body, stilling when he kissed below her naval. And then his tongue was darting out down _there_ and Hermione felt like she was on fire.

"Oh gods, Fred," she felt herself panting out the words. Fred's tongue was doing miraculous things to her aching center. She felt the tension building in her belly like a coil tightening. As Fred's tongue continued to dance around her, he suddenly inserted a finger deep inside, eliciting a scream of ecstasy from her lips. After only moments, Hermione was screaming out his name when her orgasm hit. Fred smiled as he watched her ride out her pleasure. As soon as it was over, Hermione looked into his eyes.

"Make love to me, Fred."

"If you insist," he said, smiling. He brought himself closer to her, lining up his impossibly hard erection with her throbbing center. In one thrust, Fred was buried deep inside her.

"Oh bloody hell, Hermione." Fred squeezed his eyes shut, and then opened them again to look at the witch beneath him. He began to pump slowly, almost all the way out and then in again. "You're beautiful," he said to her when she arched into him again.

"I love you," she whispered. "Fred, I love you so much." At her words, Fred brought one hand up to tangle in her head and began thrusting quicker. Hermione began matching each of his thrusts, and at her insistence Fred went quicker still. Both were panting and sweating as they had been when they were dancing in the club. Soon, Hermione felt the coil tightening again, and as she screamed out Fred's name, he felt his orgasm hit as well. He spilled himself into her, whispering her name as he did. He stayed inside of her for a few minutes after, both of them silent.

Finally, Fred rolled to the side, and pulled Hermione into him so that her back was against his chest. He heard her breathing begin to get shaky and he knew she was crying. He smoothed her hair and slowly placed kisses along her shoulder. Finally, Hermione's breathing evened out.

"I do love you," she whispered without turning to look at him.

"I know," he said, pulling her closer to him. "And I love you."

They fell asleep together after his words knowing that everything had just changed.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Hermione felt two arms wrap around her waist as she stood at the sink washing dishes. She tended to do everything the Muggle way when she was nervous or upset.

"Surprise," she heard Ron say behind her. Hermione plastered a smile across her face and turned in his arms. She allowed him to hug her for a few moments, and felt sick with guilt when he kissed her on the forehead. She pulled away from him.

"Ron, I need to tell you something," she began, but Ron clearly wasn't listening to her.

"Hermione, this week at training was great. You know, I always wanted to be an Auror, but I didn't know if I really had it in me, you know?" Hermione watched as Ron helped himself to leftover chicken in the refrigerator as he talked. "But everything we had to do, it just all came so easy. I mean, after the whole Voldy thing and all that stuff we did at Hogwarts, it was like a piece of cake. And the whole time I just kept thinking how lucky I am. Bloody hell, I've got a great family and now I have _you_. I thought about coming home to you the whole time." Ron was speaking so casually, but Hermione felt the guilt rise in her throat again. How could she break his heart and tear apart his family? "So, what did you have to say?" He had finished two chicken legs in the time he'd been talking, and now he was standing in front of her, smile on his face.

"Oh, just that I've missed you." Hermione cringed when the words left her mouth. She was a terrible human being. As Ron began to trail kisses down her throat and run his hands under the waistband of her jeans, Hermione tried desperately to will away the memory of yesterday morning after she and Fred had woken up together.

"_So," he'd said when they'd both awoken. He had been watching her sleep, and marveled as the look of peace on her sleeping face left so quickly when Hermione had opened her eyes and remembered the night before._

"_So," she said. They laid in silence for several moments before Hermione threw off the covers and got out of bed. Fred watched her leave the room and listened as she banged things around in the kitchen. After a moment, he followed her._

_Hermione turned around to see Fred leaning against the wall, watching her._

"_I'll make breakfast," she began, "what do you want?"_

"_Hermione…"_

"_Eggs? Pancakes?" She was completely ignoring him. Fred walked forward and grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to look at him._

"_Hermione, we need to talk about this."_

"_About what? About how I'm in love with my boyfriend's brother? The boyfriend that said brother encouraged me to leave him for? About how I have the very real possibility of breaking my boyfriend's, who is also one of my _best friend's,_ heart and at the same time rip apart a family? Is that what you want to talk about?" Fred watched as the tears fell from her eyes and she dropped the dishrag she had been holding. Fred pulled her into a tight embrace and let her cry into his shoulder. "You know, he basically told me he wanted to marry me the other night." It came out muffled against Fred's shirt, but he stilled at her words._

"_I never really thought he was that serious about you. Honestly… I sort of thought, well…"_

"_What? Fred, what?"_

"_I sort of thought you two would date for a few weeks and then realize you're better off friends. I think that's why I wanted you to date him when he asked. You know, so that he'd get his crush for you out of his system."_

"_Fred! You based you decision on our relationship on the _hope_ that Ron, who has apparently been in love with me for years, didn't _really_ like me like that? Are you kidding?" Fred backed away from Hermione; he couldn't look her in the eyes._

"_I'm sorry, Hermione. I shouldn't have come after you last night. That was a mistake." Hermione felt her heart twist at his words._

"_I'm telling him, Fred. I can't keep it from him. It'll be hard, but…"_

"_No, you won't. You shouldn't. You'll forget about this, and you two can be happy together," Fred began walking towards the family room._

"_Fred! I'm not going to forget about this; I'm going to tell him!" Hermione yelled after him, but then heard a pop and knew he was gone. She sat down on the floor and stared at her feet. She couldn't even cry anymore._

Hermione woke up on Monday morning with Ron curled around her. She gasped when she looked at her bedside clock. Eight o'clock. She was going to be late for work if she didn't hurry.

"Ron!" She yelled. He grumbled and turned over. "Ronald, wake up! It's eight o'clock. Your mother is going to be wondering where you are." Ron sat upright.

"Bollocks," he muttered, looking for his shirt in the room. He pulled it on over his head and ran to Hermione. He brushed a quick kiss over her lips and disapparated. Hermione stood in the room staring at the spot where he'd been, wondering how her life had come to this. She shook herself from her reverie and began to get ready for work.

* * *

Three weeks later found Hermione sitting uncomfortably in a department meeting. Ms. Flemmings was droning on about the department rules and regulations – the same things she said in every department meeting, but Hermione couldn't focus on her words. She felt the room was too hot, and she was feeling a bit dizzy. After several moments of fanning herself with a Muggle Relations packet, she suddenly felt very nauseous. Hermione stood up and bolted from the room without looking at the startled people around her.

She rounded the corner and burst into the Ladies' Room, just barely making it to the loos in time to watch her breakfast come back out. After several minutes of retching, Hermione finally sat back on the floor and wiped her mouth. She groaned. She must have caught the stomach flu that had been going around. When September had rolled in, the weather finally cooled down and brought with it some sort of viral illness. Everyone around Hermione had gotten it. She heard the door creak open.

"Hermione? Are you alright?" Susan Bones, who had begun working in Muggle Relations with Hermione began walking towards the stall that she was in. Hermione picked herself up from the floor.

"Yes, Susan, thanks. But I think I must have picked up that awful stomach virus that everyone's gotten. Could you let Ms. Flemmings know I left early when she'd done with the meeting. Susan smiled at Hermione.

"Sure, take care of yourself. I had that, as well. It only lasts a day or two." Hermione thanked her and went back to her office to collect her things. Hermione owled Ron before leaving the office to let him know that she was sick and that he shouldn't come over that night. A strange sense of relief washed over her; in the times that she wasn't with Ron, she was almost always able to put her night with Fred in the back of her mind. However, when she was with Ron, it was all she could think about.

Fred had gone completely MIA in the last few weeks. Although Ron mentioned running into him several times when he visited the shop, Hermione had not heard a word from him. She had been to the Burrow on several occasions, especially in the week following the incident to see Ginny before she left, but Fred was never there. It was as though he knew when she was coming. She tried to tell herself that it was for the best, but her eyes had this terribly annoying habit of getting all watery when she thought too hard about him being out of her life.

By the time Hermione arrived back to her flat, she had an owl waiting for her from Ron, and she was feeling just fine. She wondered if she should have been so hasty to leave work, as it seemed to be a freak occurrence. In fact, she was rather hungry now that her breakfast was no longer occupying her stomach. She sat down at the kitchen table and opened Ron's letter.

_Hermione,_

_Sorry to hear you're feeling under the weather. Owl me if you need anything. Feel better soon; I'll miss you tonight._

_And I love you._

_Ron_

Hermione ran her fingers over the words. He had never told her he loved her, but there it was in black and white. She felt a sharp pain in her heart when she reread his words. How has she let things get this far? And how long would she let it continue? Hermione set the letter down and walked slowly to her bedroom. She curled up under the covers with Crookshanks at her side. She was no longer feeling hungry.

* * *

Hermione opened her eyes slowly. She was disoriented, as she always was when she fell asleep in the middle of the day. She sat up and looked at the alarm clock on her bedside table. Six o'clock. She had slept the entire day away.

When she had managed to pull herself from under the covers, she stumbled out into the kitchen, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She called Crookshanks while filling his food dish, and then poured herself a glass of wine. She sat at the kitchen table and pulled that day's edition of _The Daily Prophet_ closer to her. She hadn't read it yet. Hermione willed her mind to be peacefully empty for a few moments while she read the paper. She scanned through the stories, slightly uninterested. At the bottom of the third page she noticed an advertisement for a man who was giving lessons on wandless magic.

Hermione brought the glass of wine to her lips and was about to flip the page when suddenly her heart skipped a beat. She set the glass of wine down and stood from the table. She began pacing in the kitchen. _It couldn't be._ The ad had brought her memories of Fred's ability to perform a contraception charm wandlessly. Something she couldn't recall him doing on that night three weeks earlier. She felt her heart racing. Suddenly the room was very hot.

She was panicking. She couldn't breathe. There was no way, absolutely no way, that she or Fred would be crass enough to forget something so important. And then, as though someone or something wanted to remind her just how much worse things could be, she realized that she and Ron had not used a contraception charm the night he had returned home, either. He had been so excited to see her, and she had been so preoccupied with what she should have told him that neither one of them had even thought of it.

Hermione sat down in the middle of the kitchen and tried to control her breathing. Maybe she shouldn't be panicking just yet. She wasn't supposed to get her period until the end of the week. And maybe she really had just caught the stomach flu. But she couldn't wait that long to find out; there were spells in the Wizarding world that would allow her to find out this early.

She stood up from the floor, and rushed to her bookshelf in the living room. She was sure she'd learned the spell in school, but it wasn't something she'd needed then. It wasn't something she'd needed _ever_. After she found what she was looking for, and had memorized the exact golden hue that would glow around her belly if she were, in fact, carrying a child, Hermione set the book down and walked in circles around her living room for a few moments. After taking a few deep breaths, she stopped in the middle of the room and raised her wand.

"_Gravitas," _she whispered, as she waved her wand in a simple circle near her belly. She took in another deep breath and waited for an answer.

* * *

Hermione was sitting in the middle of her couch an hour later when she heard a pop, and looked up to see Ron standing in front of her.

"What's a'matter, Hermione? Your owl told me to come quickly. Are you feeling alright?" Hermione shook her head. "Oh, love, can I get you something?" Ron began to walk towards her, and Hermione stood up.

"Ron, I'm not sick," she said quietly. Ron stopped in front of her.

"Then what…"

"I'm not sick. I'm pregnant."


	8. Chapter 8

_Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed! It really keeps me writing even when my brain wants to shut off. Enjoy the chapter… XD_

**Chapter 8**

Ron was thunderstruck. He stood in front of Hermione with no expression on his face for several moments. Finally, he looked up at her, seemingly searching her eyes for answers.

"Well, bollocks," he said finally. "Mum's going to _throw a fit_." He threw himself down on the couch and put his head in his hands.

"That's really not the biggest issue, Ronald." Hermione sat down next to him and sighed. She willed herself not to cry… _again._

"Hermione, that _is _the biggest issue. When my mum finds out we've been… you know… she's going to go beserk. This is scarier than facing Voldemort."

"Well, good, maybe she'll hex us both to the grave. Ronald, we're _eighteen-years-old, _and I'm _pregnant_. You know, like, carrying a child, and I don't even know if…" Hermione stopped talking abruptly; she had been rambling.

"You don't know if… what?"

"If, you know, if we can even take care of a baby. We're just kids. We just graduated Hogwarts. For Merlin's sake, we've only been working for a couple months. We JUST started dating!" She was flustered. Ron sat up straighter and turned towards her.

"So… marry me." Hermione turned her head towards his quickly.

"What?"

"Marry me, Hermione. So, we just started dating. But you're my best friend. I love you; I'm _in love_ with you. This doesn't have to be a bad thing."

"Ron, I don't think…"

"Think about it. I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Sure, this isn't the most ideal way for me to propose. I thought of many better ways, but I want to marry you."

"You've… thought about it… before?" Hermione smiled despite herself when Ron's cheeks reddened.

"Yeah," he shrugged, "and it really helped when I started getting paychecks 'cause I realized I could buy you a ring, so then I started thinking about that." Hermione leaned over and hugged Ron as hard as she could.

"Okay," she whispered in his ear. Ron leaned back and looked in her eyes.

"Okay, as in 'yes'?" Hermione nodded her head, and smiled at the look of excitement on Ron's face. Suddenly she was elated; she let her mind be empty of everything but Ron. He leaned in and kissed her deeply. After a few moments, they parted.

"Now, let's just hope Mum's so excited about the wedding she forgets to _avada_ us for the grandkid." Hermione laughed and swatted his arm playfully before snuggling into his side.

* * *

Hermione and Ron stood outside the Burrow, both reluctant to step through the front door. It was Sunday, only a few days after Hermione had discovered she was pregnant. Mrs. Weasley had conveniently enough decided to have the whole family over for Sunday brunch. Hermione and Ron had decided today would be the day to tell them.

"Ready?" Ron asked.

"To break your mum's heart?" Hermione groaned, but grabbed Ron's hand and followed him inside. The Burrow was already full; the entire family except for Charlie had been able to come by. Hermione turned the corner into the kitchen behind Ron. Fred sat at the table with George and looked up as they entered. It was the first time they had seen each other since the incident. Hermione had wondered for the last few days if she should have contacted Fred before telling the entire family of her condition. Mrs. Weasley turned around to the young couple.

"Oh good, everyone's here now! Everybody to the table!" Mrs. Weasley began levitating dish after dish to the table as everyone sat down. Hermione took her seat between Ron and Harry, across from Fred as usual. She focused her attention on the plate in front of her. Ron seemed to notice her discomfort, but assumed the wrong reason for it.

"You know it'll be okay, Hermione. It'll blow over after a bit. We can tell them when we're done with dinner." Hermione gave Ron a small smile, and noticed a strange look on Fred's face. He knew something was going on.

Hermione ate in silence and listened to the buzz of chatter around her. Ron and Harry talked to George about Auror training. Ginny talked to Bill and Fleur about her first weeks back at Hogwarts. Mrs. Weasley continuously asked everyone if they had enough food. She heard snippets of conversation from Mr. Weasley and Percy as they talked about the Ministry. But she didn't hear anything from Fred. She and Fred were the only two at the table who weren't speaking. Hermione chanced a look up just as Fred did. She stared him in the eyes trying to communicate an apology for what was about to come. Hermione pulled away abruptly when she heard the clatter of silverware. She turned to see Ron setting his things down and reaching for her hand. Hermione breathed in deeply.

Ron stood up, hand still clasped around Hermione's, and cleared his throat. Everyone at the table stopped talking and looked at him.

"I have some announcements to make," he said slowly. Mrs. Weasley looked expectantly from him to Hermione. Fred sat up straighter in his seat. Ginny smiled widely and grabbed Harry's arm. Ron breathed in again.

"Well?" Mrs. Weasley was getting impatient.

"Hermione and I are getting married," Ron said it quickly and at first the room was filled with complete silence. She saw Fred shift ever so slightly from the corner of her eye. Ginny was the first to speak, or rather, to squeal.

"It's _about time_! For Merlin's sake, you two have been in love with each other for years!" She stood up and enveloped Ron in a tight hug, and then Hermione. Everyone started laughing as Mrs. Weasley started sniffling.

"Oh! Another wedding for the Weasley family!" Mrs. Weasley rushed over to hug them both. Hermione could feel the guilt building inside her.

"Wait," she heard Ron say as his mother pulled away, "there's more. Promise you aren't going to hex either one of us." Mrs. Weasley looked confused. Everyone in the room went silent again. Hermione took a deep breath and gripped Ron's hand tighter.

"I'm pregnant," she said quietly. Hermione saw Fred nearly fall from his chair. George got this sneaky grin on his face as though he knew what was coming. Mrs. Weasley stepped back, sputtered a few times, and then simply walked out of the room.

"Well, I think that's worse than getting hexed," Hermione said to Ron.

"That's an interesting way to end a Weasley dinner," Bill said, laughing. Ron glared at him. Mr. Weasley was silent, but then walked over to the young couple. He placed a soft hand on each of their shoulders.

"She'll come around," was all he said before turning and following wherever Molly had gone. Hermione looked at Ron sadly before sitting down at the table again. Ron followed his parents from the room. Hermione sat awkwardly in the silence with the remaining Weasleys and Harry.

"Well, 'Ermione, eef you need anyzing…" Fleur began, rubbing her growing belly, "just tell me. I must say I'm glad I won't be ze only one getting fat!" Everyone at the table laughed, and Hermione smiled at Fleur, grateful that she had broken the silence. She sucked in her breath and looked up at Fred, still sitting across the table from her. He stared back at her, the look in his eyes unreadable. Hermione excused herself from the table, and everyone resumed conversation.

She shuffled her way out to the old, rickety picnic table. It was just out of sight from the kitchen window and would be the perfect place for her to regain her composure. As soon as she'd felt tears stinging her eyes, she'd known it was best to leave the table. After only a few moments she heard the back door swing open and a set of heavy footsteps trudge towards her. She knew without looking that it was Fred. He sat down next to her.

"Is it mine?" He didn't waste a minute.

"Fred…"

"Just, tell me, Hermione. Is it mine?"

"Fred, don't do this to yourself…"

"It is, isn't it?"

"I don't know!" Hermione raised her voice momentarily, and then lowered it again before continuing. "I don't know, Fred. But I'm marrying Ron. It doesn't matter. It's what you wanted anyway…" Hermione felt tears pouring from her eyes as Fred enveloped her in a tight embrace.

"Hermione, I never meant…" he began, running his fingers through her hair. Neither had heard the back door open.

"What's going on here?" The two broke apart at the sound of Ron's confused voice.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"Ron!" Hermione pulled away from Fred quicker than she should have and hoped that Ron hadn't heard anything they had said. She wiped the tears from her eyes, "I'm sorry. Fred was just… I was just… upset about your mum." She finished quietly and watched as Ron looked from her to Fred, nodding his head and seemingly accepting her explanation.

"I think she'll be fine… just shocked," Ron scratched the back of his head and looked at his brother again. Fred kept his eyes away from Ron's face.

"We should probably leave. Actually, I should leave. You should stay here tonight," Hermione said, standing from the table and walking towards Ron. Ron nodded his head.

"You're probably right. See you tomorrow?"

"Of course." Hermione placed a brief kiss against Ron's lips before apparating home. She didn't look back at Fred.

* * *

"Thank Merlin for magic," Hermione said as Ginny fussed with a few stray strands of hair and smoothed the train of Hermione's dress. "Otherwise this dress would be squeezing the life out of me."

"Hermione, you're barely even showing."

"Maybe so, but I've still filled out quite a bit. I've had to make it a size larger. I'm only two months in, Gin. I'm going to end up being _massive!_" Ginny smacked her arm and smiled warmly at Hermione.

"Oh, shush," she stepped back to look at the older witch. "Hermione, you look so beautiful!" Hermione watched as Ginny's eyes began to tear up.

"If you start, I'll start. No crying!" Hermione heard the door to Ron's bedroom creak open. She turned to see Mrs. Weasley walk in with a smile on her face. Once the wedding plans started rolling, and Hermione told Mrs. Weasley that she wanted to be married before the baby came, things had gone back to almost normal between the women. The only rough patch was a few weeks ago when Ron suggested he move in with Hermione _before_ the wedding. Needless to say, he was still living at the Burrow.

"Hermione," Mrs. Weasley sniffled a bit. "I'm truly honored that I will be able to call you my daughter in a few hours… I just…" Mrs. Weasley sniffled again and decided to hug Hermione rather than continue speaking. When she was done, she looked over at Hermione's parents who were sitting in the corner of the room. At Mrs. Weasley's sniffling, Hermione's mother had begun to tear up. "You have a wonderful, wonderful daughter." She walked towards the two Muggles and hugged each of them fiercely. Hermione watched as the three conversed about the upcoming nuptials and turned back to Ginny. She took a deep breath.

"Is this insane?" She asked the red-head.

"Of course not. You and Ronald belong together, and you know it. For Merlin's sake, you prats fancied each other for years." Hermione gave Ginny a smile. If only she knew half of what had happened in Hermione's life this past summer. Hermione brought herself out of her thoughts when she felt her father rest a hand on her arm.

"It's time, love," he said, his face full of pride. Hermione nodded her head and watched as the three other women in the room headed outside to where the ceremony would be taking place. She followed her father to the Burrow's kitchen and watched through the window as her bridesmaids walked down the aisle. She saw Ron standing in front of the guests, and her heart fluttered in anticipation. Next to him was Percy, his best man, followed by Harry, George, Fred, Bill and Charlie. Hermione tried not to dwell on the fact that Fred would be standing only mere feet away as she married his brother. She turned her attention to Ginny, of course her maid of honor, as she joined the other bridesmaids - Luna, Fleur and Katie. The music slowed and then changed. Hermione felt her feet begin to move as her father walked her down the aisle. She smiled at familiar faces as she passed them- Neville, Seamus, Dean, Padma and Parvati. Then a bit further down, Hagrid, McGonagall, her mother. She focused on the cool November air splashing against her face, and the nervous smile on Ron's.

Before she knew it, her father was lifting her veil and kissing her cheek; she was facing Ron and hearing words come from the mouth of the Minister of Magic. She couldn't focus on the words; her mind was swirling. Suddenly she heard herself saying, "I do," and she was kissing Ron to an uproarious applaud. She was married. Hermione broke away from Ron and briefly glanced over his shoulder to Fred's face. It was unreadable, though she knew what he was thinking. It was what she was thinking, as well - she was married to the wrong brother.

* * *

Hermione and Ron sat together at the head table, both slightly tipsy and smiling at each other. They watched as several drunken friends still managed to sway around on the conjured dance floor in the Burrow's backyard. It was nearly 1am. Hermione's beautiful white dress was covered in cake and dirt. Ron had felt the need to tackle her to the ground and kiss her after they had smashed the wedding cake in each others' faces. Hermione glances over at her new husband, one of his hands was around a glass of champagne, his left thumb was turning his shiny, white-gold ring around his finger, and he was watching the dance floor in amusement. Fred had long since disapparated with Angelina after wishing the new married couple all of the joy in the world. He had smelled strongly of Firewhiskey, and though Ron has laughed at his drunken brother "getting lucky with his ex-girlfriend," Hermione had simply plastered a smile across her face and told herself it was a good thing Fred had left early.

Everything else about the night had gone spectacularly- from the father/daughter dance, to her first dance with Ron, to the very amusing bouquet toss (during which Luna caught the bouquet, insisted there were lucky Slimwubs in it - whatever they were - and then giggled delightfully when Neville, conveniently, caught the garter. Watching Neville turn red once he realized where he had to _put_ the garter was something Hermione or Ron would never forget).

"Well, love," Hermione heard Ron say, "I personally believe it's time I take my wife back to our room and have my way with her. Do you agree, Mrs. Weasley?" Ron smiled and waggled his eyebrows. Hermione laughed.

"But of course, Mr. Weasley," she said in response, offering him her hand. They made their way around the backyard, saying their goodbyes and laughing when they interrupted Ginny and Harry shamelessly snogging each other in the kitchen of the Burrow.

"Oy, mate, I think my sister'd like to breathe," Ron said, chuckling as the two broke apart at the sound of his voice. They said their goodbyes and apparated back to Hermione's flat.

Once there, Ron wasted no time in grabbing Hermione's wrist and pressing his mouth to hers. "You look beautiful in this dress, love, but all night long I've been waiting for it to come off." Hermione smiled into his kiss.

"I agree," she said, pulling at the zipper at the back of her dress. Once she had stepped out of it, Ron noticed the frilly, white lingerie she wore underneath- leaving next to nothing to the imagination.

"Bollocks, Hermione," his mouth dropped open, and he felt his pants become tighter.

"I was hoping you'd like it," Hermione said, a bit shyly.

"I love it," Hermione laughed at the look on Ron's face- rather close to the look he got when he spotted a particularly delectable dessert. She wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Make love to me, Ron," Hermione whispered, her voice dipping low with desire. She left her eyes drift shut as Ron leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. Slowly, delicately. She pulled away for a moment to stare into her eyes and realized that, yes, she loved him. She loved him very much. She might even love him enough to be okay without Fred. Her hand reached out to his and she pulled him into her bedroom. _Their_ bedroom.

Hermione laid down across the top of her bed and felt her stomach flip-flop as Ron came down on top of her. His mouth found hers in a kiss that was not at all delicate this time. He places scorching kissed down her jawline, then trailed them down her neck, to the tops of her almost exposed breasts. Then over the thin, white fabric covering the nipples. Hermione arched into the kisses, wanting more. Ron continued downwards, making his way past her navel, to her inner thigh, and finally placing a kiss on the fabric that rested above the part of her now aching for him.

Ron sat up, and pulled the dress robes he was still wearing over his head. The rest of his clothes followed until he was only in his boxers before her. He leaned his head back down. Hermione watched as he pulled her panties to the side and, without hesitation, began nipping at the sensitive bud down there. Hermione moaned and began writing beneath him. Ron continued his ministrations, occasionally flicking his tongue in different directions. In mere minutes, Hermione felt her climax building, and soon she was crying out to the most wonderful orgasm Ron had ever given her. He lay down next to her as she came down from the feeling, panting. When she finally had feeling in her fingertips again, she looked at him and smiled at the look of triumph that splashed across his face.

She sat up without warning, ripped the remaining clothes from her body and rolled herself on top of Ron. The look of triumph was replaced with anticipation. Hermione began to grind her body into Ron's hips. The feel of his boxers between them was frustrating to her. She continued her movements, though, considering the effect they had on her husband. He grasped her hips and squeezed his eyes shut, moaning so quietly that Hermione was sure he didn't realize he was doing it.

"Hermione…" he began. Before he could say anything else, Hermione lifted her hips up and pulled his boxers down just enough for his erection to peek out. She lowered herself onto him slowly. Hermione began moving on top of Ron slowly, then faster. He grabbed her hips and began to thrust into her, matching her rhythm and speed. Hermione leaned down and captured his lips with hers in a searing kiss, leaving them both breathless. After several minutes, Ron abruptly flipped them over. He brought his mouth down to hers again, thrusting deeper into her as she brought her legs around his waist. In only moments, Hermione began to fill her orgasm building again, and when she called out his name, Ron came with her. After they had both caught their breath, Ron pulled away and lay down next to her, draping an arm around her waist and pulling her close.

"I love you, Hermione Weasley," he whispered, while kissing the back of her neck.

"I love you," Hermione replied, closing her eyes and drifting into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

* * *

_Eeeee! Don't throw tomatoes, please! It had to happen. I will update VERY soon, as the next chapter will jump ahead quite a bit & I'm very excited to finish it. Also, my apologies if the wedding scene isn't compliant to Wizarding or UK weddings. I don't really know anything about those, so I related it to my own wedding experiences. :) Again, thanks for all the reviews- you all are the best! xo._


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

_December_

"We've got to find a new flat."

"Ron, we still have six months before the baby comes."

"Hermione, by the time we find a place we can afford, move in, and decorate the baby's room, those six months aren't going to seem like much." Hermione knew he was right, and she hated that Ron was currently the sensible one in the relationship, but she couldn't bear the thought of giving up the little flat she had so come to love in the few short months she'd lived there. She sighed and rubbed the small baby bump that had developed over the last few weeks.

"I know," she gave Ron a small smile. "I just love this place so much. It's where we made her," she said, still rubbing her belly. Ron walked over and placed his hand on top of hers.

"Him," he said, grinning. The two had chosen not to find out the sex of the baby until he or she came into the world. Hermione and Harry were convinced it would be a girl, but Ron and Ginny felt the opposite.

"My goddaughter is not going to appreciate you calling her a _him_," Harry said, walking out from the kitchen and laughing. Ginny followed behind, nudging him and shaking her head.

"You three are crazy. And besides, Ron and I are definitely right… boys run in the family. Let's head out; I'm starved." Ron turned to Hermione.

"Are you sure you don't want to come today?" Hermione nodded her head.

"I'm just feeling a bit tired today," she lied. Ever since the wedding, Mrs. Weasley had been attempting to gather the whole family together every Sunday for dinner. She was never quite able to get everyone there on the same day and up until last week, Fred had never been able to attend. Hermione hadn't seen him since the night of the wedding last month. Last week, however; he showed up and the tension made Hermione feel as though she would explode. Though no one else in the family had any reason to suspect it, Hermione didn't think she could stomach the feeling two weeks in a row. She was hoping it would get easier as time went on.

Ron leaned in and kissed her, his lips lingering against hers before he apparated away. Hermione smiled when he was gone. Kisses like that from Ron helped ease the pain of not having Fred.

_March_

"Finally! It's wonderful, although; the steps were a bit of a challenge. I suppose that will change when I'm no longer a small whale, though, or simply when I can apparate again," Hermione chuckled as Ron came up behind her and attempted to wrap his arms around the beach ball her stomach had become in the six months she'd been pregnant.

"You really like it?" Ron asked, kissing her neck.

"I do. It's absolutely perfect," Hermione turned in Ron's arms and wrapped her arms around his neck. After months of searching, they had finally walked into a flat that they both loved. They had been all over London looking for a suitable place, but whichever Hermione liked, Ron didn't and vice-versa. It had gotten to the point where they had been convinced they were going to have to squeeze another, albeit little, witch or wizard into Hermione's one-bedroom flat. However, just yesterday Harry and Ginny had informed them they'd found an advertisement in the Prophet for a two-bedroom just a few blocks from their current place in Diagon Alley. Hermione placed a kiss on Ron's cheek.

"We'll take it," Ron said to the older woman that had shown them around. He smiled at Hermione. "We should get going; your appointment is at four o'clock, and we're meeting Harry and Gin for dinner after." Ron briefly discussed plans with the woman and set dates to sign all of the paperwork. Afterwards, he followed Hermione as she shuffled out the front door and down the two stories of steps. They walked hand in hand down Diagon Alley to The Leaky Cauldron where they floo'd to St. Mungo's.

* * *

Ron and Hermione sat across from Harry and Ginny in a beautiful, candlelit Muggle restaurant that Ginny had suggested. Both had been confused as to why she had suggested a Muggle restaurant, but they hadn't asked why. Now they sat across from each other; Hermione couldn't help but notice the way the other couple kept smiling at each other as though they were keeping a secret.

"So, why the Muggle restaurant?" Ron said quietly to them. Ginny looked at Harry and smiled again.

"Well… we were going to wait until after dinner, but…" Ginny began.

"We just got back from visiting your mum and dad at the Burrow…" Harry said, smiling insanely.

"And?" Hermione and Ron said together. Ginny let out a squeal and held up her left hand, showing off a blindingly large diamond.

"We're getting married!" She nearly shrieked. Hermione clasped her hand over her mouth.

"Oh my goodness! I'm so happy for you!"

"Congrats, mate," Ron said, smiling and shaking Harry's hand with a bit too much excitement.

"Now you see why we wanted to do this at a Muggle restaurant?" Ginny asked. Hermione and Ron nodded their heads. Ever since the war ended and Harry and Ginny were linked to each other as a couple again, the media had a frenzy photographing them almost anywhere they went in public. Hermione assumed it was Harry that hoped to keep the engagement from the press as long as possible; she knew that Ginny seemed to secretly enjoy every bit of attention she received from being Harry's significant other.

The two couples eventually fell back into easy conversation, talking about Ginny and Harry's engagement and Ron and Hermione's new flat. For a few hours that night, Hermione's life felt blissfully normal.

_May_

"Oy! You're splattering paint all over me, Hermione!" She grunted.

"Well, it's really hard to reach up here when I can barely move around!"

"It's not my fault you wanted to do the baby's room "the Muggle way" when you were eight months pregnant, sheesh…" Hermione turned towards Ron whose back was to her. She watched as he rolled his roller up and down the wall. She quietly dipped her paint brush into the sage green paint and flicked it at him as hard as she could. Flecks of paint covered the back of Ron's head. He turned slowly, a mischievous smile on his face.

"Oh, now you're in trouble," he began, walking slowly towards her. Hermione backed up a few steps, stopping when she realized she would otherwise back into the freshly painted wall. She knew she couldn't run far with her belly, as it was she could barely wobble around the flat. Ron's grin grew bigger the closer he got, and suddenly he reached the paint roller out and swiped it down the side of Hermione's face, laughing as green paint clotted in her hair.

"Ronald Weasley!" She shrieked, brandishing the paintbrush in his face like a wand, smiling as paint coated the tip of his nose. Ron stepped forward quickly, another smile on his face, but instead of attacking her with his roller again, he let it drop to the ground as he brought both hands up to frame her face. He brushed away some of her paint-colored hair.

"Merlin, you're beautiful," he said quietly. Hermione snorted, something she had begun doing anytime Ron tried to compliment her lately. She looked down at her massive belly, then back at Ron, raising an eyebrow towards him. Ron shook his head.

"I have no idea why you don't believe me," he said, kissing her hard on the mouth. "You're carrying my child; there's nothing more beautiful, Hermione," he knelt down in front of her as he said this, resting both hands on her belly. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Hermione felt a strong kick. "He kicked!" Ron said, the expression on his face making Hermione's heart flutter. In the last few months Hermione constantly felt the baby kicking, but Ron had not yet been able to feel it.

"_She's_ kicking," Hermione said, laughing as Ron rolled his eyes. He continued to stare at her belly in amazement, and Hermione decided this was a sign. This baby was definitely her husband's.

_June_

"Ron! Ronald!" Ron rolled over in bed, blinking blearily at the bedside clock and noticing that Hermione was not occupying the other side of the bed. Four o'clock in the morning. He sat up, wondering what had awakened him. Then he heard a long groan coming from somewhere outside the bedroom. Ron dashed out of bed and followed the noises to the kitchen. Hermione was sitting on the floor against the kitchen counter, breathing heavily.

"Hermione!" he yelled, rushing to her side.

"Contractions," she whispered in between breaths. "And I think… I think," she let out some strangled noise, "I think… water just broke… have to go… now!" Hermione screamed again as another contraction ripped through her. It was the second week of June and Hermione was three days past her due date; Ron felt himself beginning to panic.

"What are you doing in the kitchen?" He said, voice cracking.

"Thought I needed a glass of water," she said, squeezing her eyes shut, "what does it matter? Get me to St. Mungo's!"

* * *

Hermione lay in the hospital bed twelve hours later, hair stuck to the sweat that lingered on her forehead and the nape of her neck, smiling brightly at the sight of her husband holding a tiny baby girl.

"I told you," she croaked out, feeling the affect of the magical pain potion she'd been given starting to wear her out.

"Shh," Ron said, still looking down at his daughter and rocking her slightly, "don't listen to your mum; I always knew you'd be a girl." Hermione chuckled at him. Ron came over and sat next to her, pressing a kiss to her forehead as he cradled the impossibly tiny witch in his arms. "Olivia Rose Weasley," he said quietly. They had decided on the name months ago after Hermione had confided in Ron that it was the name she'd always dreamed of giving a daughter if she had one. "I love you. And I love you, Hermione," he whispered, placing another kiss against her forehead. Hermione looked at her daughter, a few tufts of red Weasley hair sticking out from her little, pink hat - a stark contrast. She watched as Olivia's big, brown eyes gazed at her father. Hermione closed her eyes and snuggled her head into Ron's side.

"I love you, too," she said before succumbing to the potion's effects and drifting into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Hermione slowly opened her eyes a few hours later. The room seemed a bit darker; she looked to her right and saw a figure in the chair a few feet from her bed; the silhouette rocked her daughter in his arms.

"Fred…" Hermione began, her throat constricting at the realization that he was there.

"She's beautiful, Hermione," Fred said. She said nothing, but stared at her ex-lover as he continued to rock her daughter in his arms. "Did you know," Fred said, looking back at Olivia and whispering to her sleeping form, "that on this day a year ago, I kissed your mum?" Hermione's heart beat wildly at his words; she hadn't realized it was _that_ day. She cleared her throat, but said nothing when Fred continued speaking quietly. "Ah, what young fools we were," he continued, a bit of humor in his voice, "but I just couldn't help myself, you see. Your mum was so beautiful… _is_ so beautiful, just like you." Hermione had never heard Fred's voice so soft and tender, not even in all the times they had made love. She felt tears well up in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Fred looked up at Hermione, speaking to her in the same whisper.

"Ron asked me to stay with Olivia for a bit while he went to get dinner with the rest of the family. I didn't think you'd wake up…" he looked almost… sheepish… if Hermione had to give it a word.

"It's okay," she replied, "can you bring her over here? I've barely gotten to hold my own daughter," she laughed. Fred stood up and walked towards the bed as Hermione sat up. He placed the sleeping infant in her arms and stood next to Hermione's head, watching as she looked down at Olivia. He reached out a hand, brushing a stray curl from her face. Hermione could barely admit it to herself, but for a moment she pretended she and Fred were still together and that this was his child she was holding. But she chased that thought away quickly, reminding herself that she knew, she absolutely _knew_ that Olivia was Ron's daughter. She lifted her head and looked up at Fred. He stared back at her; neither of them said anything. Hermione noticed that Fred's hand lingered in her hair.

The door to the room opened, and Fred pulled his hand away quickly. Ron walked in quietly.

"Oh, you're awake," he said to Hermione.

"Yeah, but Olivia's finally gotten to sleep. Can you take her to the nursery?" She asked him, secretly wishing for just another moment alone with Fred.

"I'll take her," Fred said quickly, scooping Olivia from Hermione's arms, "you two can have a few moments alone."

"Thanks, mate," Ron said, settling on the bed next to Hermione. She watched as Fred walked quietly from the room then snuggled a bit closer to Ron, trying to clear her mind.

_November_

Hermione plopped down on the couch, letting out an exhausted sigh. The first six months with Olivia had been anything but easy. She loved her daughter, but she hadn't been at all prepared for the constant attention an infant required, and more importantly, for the lack of sleep. She had taken six months leave from work at the Ministry and would be going back to her job the following day. She hadn't a clue how she was going to function at work on the three or four hours of sleep she was getting each night.

She glanced over at the clock on the wall, five o'clock on Sunday afternoon. Ron had just left for dinner at the Burrow with Olivia. Hermione brought Olivia over to the Burrow almost daily to see Mrs. Weasley. Ginny and Harry stopped by often to discuss wedding plans and Mr. Weasley almost always came home for lunch. Because of this, Hermione asked Ron if she could skip out on Sunday dinners, making the excuse that she really needed a few hours of peace to herself. Truthfully, she hadn't wanted to see Fred since the night she'd had Olivia.

She sighed, trying to clear her mind of the thoughts of the man she hadn't seen in half a year. She rested her head on the back of the couch, closing her eyes. After a few moments of peaceful relaxation, Hermione heard a knock at the door. She opened her eyes, wondering who could possibly be visiting the flat. Everyone in the family would be at the Burrow now. She sighed again, standing up and walking to the door. She opened it after a second knock and felt her knees go weak.

"Fred?"


	11. Chapter 11

_I am ASHAMED at myself. I cannot believe it has been over a year since I last updated this story (which I still LOVE), and more importantly (since I just reread the entire thing) that I left you all with that terrible cliffhanger. I am always frustrated with authors who abandon stories, and while I am NOT abandoning this one as I promised I wouldn't, not updating for over a year is just as bad! I had completely fallen out of the world of fan-fiction once I became a part of "the real world" after college, working two jobs. In fact, I had fallen completely out of the Harry Potter world. Thank you to Warner Bros for releasing Part II of HP7 this summer and reminding me of my obsession… which then reminded me that I had unfinished business here. It took me a couple of months to get back into the story considering I had left it for so long, but I am here to finish it now… I promise you all. Not much longer to go until the end, and as punishment to myself I have vowed to not write ANYTHING else until this is finished (and let me tell you, I have some fantastic ideas that I cannot wait to begin when I finally finish this project!) Xoxo, try not to hate me too much… all I can say is: AT LEAST I DID COME BACK! That makes it slightly better….. right?_

_ps. Thanks to all of your reviews that convinced me to continue writing this chapter even after so much time had gone by... you are all truly awesome for your kind words!_

**Chapter 11**

"Err-mi-ohhh-neeee," Fred said, stumbling into the flat. He stopped for a second, wobbled slightly and then stood straight. He smiled at the frizzy-haired witch in front of him. "Nice flat you have here, mate." He hiccuped.

"Fred Weasley, you are absolutely pissed right now."

"You know wha-? I think… I think you may be righ', love." Fred walked forward a few steps and flopped down face first into the couch cushion.

"Fred, what are you doing here?" Hermione heard a muffled reply but couldn't make out what he'd said. "Excuse me?" Fred slowly sat up on the couch and turned so that he was facing her where she still stood next to the door.

"I 'ave a secret to tell you, Mi-neeey," Fred patted the couch next to him, indicating she should sit down. Hermione sat next to him cautiously, perching herself on the edge of the couch. She nodded for him to continue. "I think you 'ave a dirty li'l secret, my love," he said, waggling his finger in her face and leaning closer to her as he spoke. Hermione leaned back a bit.

"You smell like a bloody pub. It's disgraceful, Fred. It's Sunday afternoon." Fred snorted mirthlessly.

"Funny. Ang… Angelina said the same thing, y'know, a coupl'a weeks ago. 'Spose that's why we aren't shagging anymore…" Fred stared at the carpet for a few minutes before shrugging his shoulders. Hermione cleared her throat uncomfortably.

"Fred, I think you should go home…" she began, standing up and walking towards the door of the flat. Fred chuckled but didn't move from the couch. He started shaking his head back and forth.

"Bloody 'ell, 'Ermineey."

"Fred, really, I'd rather you come back when you sober up." Fred stood from the couch, wobbling a bit before he turned towards her. Hermione couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes. He walked towards the door where she stood and stopped in front of her. She finally dared herself to look at him. For a moment, the inebriated glaze of Fred's eyes passed away and was replaced by a smoldering look. Anger. Anger in Fred Weasley's eyes was one of the most unsettling things Hermione thought she would ever see.

"You _know_," he started, still slurring slightly. "You know she's _mine_; _I_ know she's mine." Hermione opened the door silently, averting her eyes from Fred's face again.

"You can't apparate like this," she began to say as Fred stumbled through the door. He waved her off with a hand in the air.

"Nice nigh' for a stroll anyway." Hermione watched as he made he way to the end of the hallway, kept her eyes trained on the steel door there long after he'd made his way down the stairwell behind it.

* * *

The Burrow was bustling with Christmas Eve activity. Hermione and Ron had just apparated into the chaos of the kitchen with Olivia wrapped tightly in Ron's arms.

"Happy Christmas, everyone!" Ron yelled over the chatter. Mrs. Weasley shuffled over to them, batting George on the back of the head with a dishrag when she spotted him with a hand on Katie's backside.

"Hello, hello, helllo," she smiled and held her hands out to Ron. He passed Olivia to her with a smile and threw an arm around Hermione's shoulders. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Another chaotic family gathering at the Burrow," he laughed. Hermione forced a smile but noticed Fred at the end of the kitchen table with Ginny, consciously avoiding Hermione's gaze. She realized how much she missed the comfort the Burrow used to bring her and more importantly how much she truly missed Fred and his laughter. Ron seemed to notice the expression on her face as she looked at his brother.

"Yeah, I know," he said. This startled Hermione back to reality.

"You know what?"

"How you feel… we all feel the same. Fred's been so… _sad_ lately. It's eerie not hearing him laugh. Must have been the break-up with Angelina; I think he's been moping ever since."

"Oh… yeah… must be. I'm going to run to the loo," she said quietly. Hermione hurried off up the stairs hoping that she hadn't sounded as strange as she thought. Ever since Fred's drunken appearance in her flat last month, Hermione realized she had become very distant from Ron. She was sure he was noticing, but he hadn't said anything yet. Somehow she could no longer bring herself to act as though she loved him.

Christmas Eve dinner passed uneventfully, save for a few of George's pranks that actually brought out a few treasured smiles from Fred. It was late now; everyone had gone to bed, but Hermione found herself pacing the living room around the couch and in front of the tree. She had lost count of how many times she'd passed the big evergreen full of presents beneath, waiting to be ripped open in a few hours by young children and adults who wanted to be young children again. She heard a creak in the wooden floor and spun around to see a tall, shadowed man leaning against the wall.

"You're gonna wear a hole in that floor, ya' know," Fred chuckled. Hermione felt her heart skip a beat at the sound of his laughter.

"Fred," she said quietly, watching as he came closer to her. In seconds, he was only inches away from her. In the darkness, Hermione could just barely make out the features of his face, but she didn't need to see him to know him. She brought a hand up to touch him but quickly withdrew it, taking a step back and shaking her head. She could feel the moisture welling up in her eyes.

"Fred," she whispered again, "what have I done?" Before she could prevent it, a sob escaped her lips and Fred enveloped her tightly in his arms.

"You are hardly the only one to blame, love." He held her until her sobs quieted.

"Next week," she mumbled into his shoulder. He pulled away from her, looking down with a question in his eyes. Hermione wiped a stray tear from her cheek.

"Next week, we can perform the charm to see if… you know. Ron will be away with Harry and a few of the other Aurors for three days; we can do it then."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm more sure of this than anything. Fred, I've messed up a lot lately. A lot. But I can't keep lying to everyone." Fred nodded his head and on impulse, leaned down and pressed his lips to hers in what was meant to be a chaste kiss. As soon as his lips brushed against hers, he felt a spark and tasted the saltiness of tears that lingered there. He brought his hands up to the side of her face, pressing harder against her lips until she opened them to him. Fred's tongue darted inside; Hermione sighed and fisted her hands into his t-shirt. She felt herself melting away into bliss but pulled away suddenly, backing up a few steps. Fred opened his mouth, likely to apologize, but Hermione waved off anything he was about to say.

"If the results are what you think… and what I think… Fred, we're going to tear your family apart." They stared at each other for a few moments before Fred watched as Hermione walked away.

* * *

Never in Hermione Granger's life had one week gone by so quickly. Christmas morning had come and gone without incident, and she had returned to the flat with Ron for the week before his departure. Somehow she had done her best to act as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened or would be happening while he was away. When Ron left the Sunday night following Christmas, Hermione sat in the living room for several hours staring blankly at the wall across from her, unable to even comprehend what might happen the following day.

The next evening, Hermione picked Olivia up from the Burrow after work and apparated to her flat. After setting her child in a playpen in the family room, she set to work making some sort of dinner for herself and Fred, who would be arriving shortly. Everything felt blurry as though she were gliding through some sort of nightmare that she couldn't awake from. She began slicing a cucumber for salad when she heard a pop in the kitchen directly behind her. She swung around, and despite every feeling of foreboding she'd had for the last week, her heart still skipped several beats when she saw Fred standing in her kitchen looking slightly disheveled and as weary as she was sure she looked.

"Hermione…" Fred started, looking more displaced than she had ever seen him. Before he could say another word, Hermione dropped the dishrag she had been holding and rushed forward, embracing him. The combination of him being the man she was still undeniably in love with and of simply being another human being who understood the circumstances was too overwhelming for her to hold back the tears.

"I'm sorry, Fred. I feel like all I do around you is cry," Fred chuckled and held her closer.

"Well, in the sorts of situations you and I have put ourselves in, I can't really blame you."

"Always the joker," Hermione pulled away and looked into his eyes. "I have dinner ready. And then we should probably get on with this." Fred wanted desperately to point out that dinner didn't seem necessary before a magical paternity test but seeing Hermione look so tearful stopped any protests he'd had. After the silent dinner, both retreated to the living room where Olivia was still playing silently with the toys around her.

"I suppose it's now or never," Fred said quietly, lifting Olivia in his arms and nuzzling her as though she were already his. Hermione so badly wanted to tell Fred everything she felt; her love for him, her desire deep inside that Olivia actually be his child, her regret at everything that has transpired between them recently and mostly her sadness in letting Fred go when she should have fought to keep him. When she should have never accepted Ron as second best. Over the months, Hermione had come to realize that no matter how many times Fred insisted she be with Ron, she was just as much at fault for pretending to believe that he was right.

Hermione took a deep breath and looked again at Fred holding Olivia. He sat down on the couch, placing the sleepy infant on his lap. Hermione reached out her left hand to grasp his right, and slowly extracted her wand from an inner pocket. She swallowed and then focused her attention on the two people next to her, reciting the charm she had now learned by heart.

"_Paterna meus_," she touched her wand to Fred's chest and then to Olivia's, watching as a pink light swirled around the three of them. If the charm worked correctly and Olivia was indeed Fred's daughter, the light would form a chain connected to all three of their chests. If he were not the father of the child the chain would break from him. Hermione held her breath as the pink light swirled around them, faster and faster, for what seemed like an hour. Just as she was beginning to lose hope that she had performed the charm correctly, the light slowed and moved to the center of the three of them. Suddenly one chain shot from it's center and connected itself to the now sleeping child's chest. Another chain shot forward just as quickly, connecting itself to Hermione. Finally, a third chain shot out towards Fred quivering, seemingly as unsure as everyone else in the room at first, and then quite suddenly attached itself to him, no longer quivering or shaking at all. Hermione and Fred both let out the breaths they were holding and looked at each other, very aware that they were still grasping each others' hands firmly. The chain between the three of them was taut and firm; there was no doubt that Olivia was Fred Weasley's daughter.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

_Tick._

_Tick._

_Tick._

Hermione could feel her heart beating in her throat with each tick of the clock hanging on the kitchen wall. She sat at the small, round table, absently swirling her finger along the rim of an empty mug, staring at the offending time piece. Cold dregs of unfinished tea sat still in the mug, very unlike how her insides currently felt. How lucky that she hadn't had an appetite in over a day, otherwise; anything she'd eaten would most likely be seeing the bottom of the loo. With each second that passed waiting for Ron to return home, Hermione could feel guilt and shame rise from the pit of her stomach and burn her cheeks. She was pulled out of her stupor by a soft cry coming from her daughter's room. She had put Olivia down for the night not long ago, but so far the infant hadn't made any noise indicating sleeplessness. Hermione waited with bated breath, but no other sounds entered the room. She let out a deep sigh and dropped her head, one hand reaching behind her neck to rub out a stubborn knot that was beginning to give her a headache. Just as her eyes were fluttering closed, she heard a soft crack behind her and jumped in her seat. Before she could move, two cold hands were on her shoulders. Ron leaned down and brushed a kiss against her temple.

"Oh, Ron! You scared me. Your hands are freezing!" Hermione slid away from his touch, standing to face him.

"Well it's rather cold outside in January, love," he smiled, reaching out for her hands. Hermione felt her stomach squeeze, sick with guilt at the smile on his face. He was always so content to come home to her, and oh, how she missed the days when she felt the same. Instead of letting him grab her hands she turned towards the refrigerator, avoiding his eyes.

"How was your trip? Are you hungry? We can probably dig something up," she started. Before she could continue, she felt two arms around her waist. Ron growled against her ear as he pulled her back against him. The man was insatiable in more ways than one, as Hermione had come to find out in their time together. This was proving even more difficult than she had imagined.

"Oh, I'm hungry alright," he whispered, a familiar huskiness to his voice that, despite the situation, still managed to cause a flip in Hermione's stomach. He lowered his mouth to her neck, slowly trailing kisses along her warm skin. Hermione let her eyes flutter closed for only a moment, swallowing against what felt like a tennis ball in the center of her throat. She suddenly pulled herself away, turning to face him again and willing herself not to focus on the need she saw in his eyes as he came nearer. He clearly sensed nothing was wrong, and Hermione found herself backed against one of the counters. _Why weren't there any words coming from her mouth? _Finally she placed both hands against his chest, stopping him before he leaned in to kiss her.

"Ron, I can't do this," she choked on the last word. Avoiding his eyes, she felt him pull away and look down at her.

"What do you mean? You don't feel well? Headache again?" Yes, she had used the "headache" excuse nearly every night in the week leading up to Ron's departure for his Auror training. Once she'd made the decision to find out whether Fred or Ron was the father of her child, she could no longer bring herself to make love to Ron. If it were at all possible for her to feel even more sickened at herself, she did. The look of genuine concern across Ron's face reminded her that the pain she was about to cause to her best friend, a man she truly loved very deeply, was not at all deserved. Hermione closed her eyes for a moment and let a flash of memories flood her brain, something like the figurative life passing before one's eyes in the moments before death. This was not all that unlike a death, really.

"I'm in love with someone else," Hermione choked out, barely audible. She hadn't opened her eyes yet, and the silence made her wonder if she'd even spoken the words aloud. Her eyes shot open when she heard a snort, the tell-tale laugh of Ron's that carried no mirth. Something he'd used in only a few occasions before when something seemed unbelievable to him. He was staring at her, seemingly unsure if he'd heard the words she'd said.

"Come off it, Hermione," he said, slowly, "what's really going on?"

"It's the truth. I can't act like there isn't anything wrong anymore. I've been fooling myself and you." She watched as his eyes darted around the kitchen, landing anywhere but on her. He sputtered, bits and pieces of words came out intelligibly. "Ron, something happened before we started dating. I thought it was nothing, and I thought you and I were meant to be together. And I tried, I swear…" Hermione was cut off as Ron suddenly turned his eyes towards hers, brown orbs shining with tears. Hermione's breath caught in her throat; she'd seen Ron cry only one time following the final battle at Hogwarts.

"Don't. Don't even… Hermione, don't do this. Don't do this to me, to us. It isn't trying if you give up! Look at what we've started here! We've got this amazing… and you… you want to just throw it away?" Ron was shaking his head back and forth, becoming angry. "You're upset we rushed into things, is that it?"

"No, Ron, I…"

"That's it. I knocked you up… and had the nerve to make you my wife! Oh, Merlin's sake, how thick of me. I should have let you carry our bastard child and sort out all of your other bloody _feelings_." Things were entering dangerous territory here. In any other situation this would have seemed like a typical row between the two friends, but Hermione felt chills run down her spine. Ron hadn't taken this tone with her since well before they began dating, and at this moment she had no desire to fight with him. She could feel tears prickling her eyes. "So, who is it?" Hermione was startled by the question.

"Ron, I hardly think that's…"

"No? So you've ripped out my heart, and you can't even tell me which bloody bastard stole you right from under my nose? Do I know him?" Hermione was staring, wide-eyed. "Ah, that must be it. So you'll just prance off into the sunset with some other bloke, and I'll stand by and watch? Yeah? And where do you suggest our daughter fit into all of this? Or hadn't you thought that far yet?" At the mention of Olivia, Hermione stilled. "That's what I thought."

"Ron…" She watched as he turned, walked quickly to the table and grabbed his winter robes that he'd left there earlier.

"I'll be at the Burrow. You can let me know how we deal with this thing. And don't worry… I'll tell my family. Wouldn't want to put you through any more… _distress_." Ron's voice was as sharp as nails. Hermione grabbed his shoulder, stopping him before he could move again.

"You're my best friend," she knew she was pleading, but she had to keep him here a bit longer. Hopefully he would hear her out, understand how everything had gone so wrong. But how much worse it was going to get… she wasn't sure she could handle it. "Please, Ron, it was so easy to confuse the kind of love we had. Because I do love you, I always will…"

"I was never confused about the kind of love we had, Hermione. But I guess you'll never see that."

"I never meant to hurt you!"

"Well… it's a little too late for that now," Ron said in a whisper, taking one last look at her before disapparating with a deafening crack. Instantly Hermione heard a wail from her daughter's bedroom. She rushed into the room, lifting the crying child from her crib and cradling her in her arms. Hermione sat in the wooden rocking chair in the corner of the room, rocking slowly back and forth.

"Shhh, Olivia, sweetheart. Shhh," she cooed softly, rubbing her hand in circles on her daughter's back and holding her close to her chest, "it's going to be alright, baby. I promise, it'll all work out, shhh…" Hermione stared into the thick blackness of the room, wondering who she was trying to convince more.

* * *

_Three weeks later_

Hermione heaved a sigh as she lifted Olivia, all bundled in layers to brave the freezing cold February temperatures outside. She was not looking forward to this night. She double-checked the baby bag, threw it over her shoulder and disapparated with Olivia held tightly in her arms. She opened her eyes when they landed outside of the Burrow. Hermione stood looking up at the home she'd once felt comfortable at. She looked down at her left hand wrapped around her daughter and felt the pit in her stomach rise at the sight of her empty ring finger. Although she and Ron hadn't finalized the divorce, he'd informed his family they were separating and she'd given him back the ring she'd worn for less than a year. She had hoped to avoid the Burrow and all of its residents for much longer than this, but Fleur had called _insisting_ she and Bill would be devastated if Hermione and Olivia were not there for Victoire's first birthday party.

Hermione hadn't seen Fred since she and Ron had split. She'd received an owl only a few hours after Ron had left for the Burrow that night which had a short message hastily scrawled across it, _where do we go from here?_ He had known what happened before Ron had told anyone. She hadn't answered and sincerely hoped Fred would understand and give her time to sort out what had happened. The following day was much worse, as Ron had clearly wasted no time in informing the rest of his family what had happened. Hermione found herself bombarded with owl after owl that morning. First Ginny, then Mrs. Weasley, Fleur, Percy and finally Harry.

The messages ranged from anger and frustration to confusion and, in only Harry's letter, sympathy. He knew Hermione too well to know that the decision was not made lightly and that Hermione would never mean to hurt someone she loved so deeply. His letter had been the only one she'd responded to, asking as kindly as she could that he not ask her any questions for the time being and that he try his best to keep any of the Weasleys from visiting her.

Only Ron had seen her in the last three weeks. He came by every Wednesday to take Olivia for a few nights to the Burrow. He hadn't spoken a single word to her until just a few nights ago. Hermione had continuously insisted Ron needn't go out of his way to take Olivia, blaming it on his hectic schedule as an Auror. She felt a sickness spread through her entire body every time he argued that nothing was more important than his daughter. She very seriously had no clue where to go from here.

"_Is there something else you're not telling me, Hermione?" he'd asked. Yes, so much, she'd thought._ Instead, she'd shaken her head and turned away as he disapparated.

Hermione sighed, shaking the thoughts from her head and walking towards the door. She was greeted by Ginny and Mrs. Weasley. Before she could say anything, Mrs. Weasley reached her arms out for Olivia and both women ushered her inside with smiles plastered on their faces. Neither smile was particularly warm or friendly, but Hermione silently thanked Harry. She knew he must have persuaded both to let go of their anger and treat Hermione as the family that she still, technically, was. As soon as the thought left her head, she saw the familiar mop of black hair coming towards her, a wave of relief washing over her at the sight.

"Harry," she breathed, letting him hug her tightly for only a moment. He looked down at her, concern splashed across her green eyes.

"So…?" She knew that he wanted the entire story. He cared about her too much to not want to know if she was okay. Hermione caught a glimpse over Harry's shoulder of Fred and George talking to Ron. The conversation was casual, typical banter between the brothers, but it hurt Hermione just the same. She was going to tear this family apart, and it was the last thing she wanted. At that moment, Fred glanced over at her and she saw him smile sadly. Hermione turned back to Harry and shook her head.

"Not now. But thank you, Harry, for being so supportive when I don't deserve it. I'll be fine," she added, seeing the concern flit across his eyes again.

"I'm here when you need me," he said, squeezing her shoulder and directing her towards the kitchen, passing Ron and the twins. None of the brothers looked at her as she passed, but she could feel two sets of eyes on her back, burning into her as she walked away.

Somehow, the night passed more quickly than Hermione had thought it would. Before she knew it, people had cleared away and she found herself alone with Ron in the kitchen. Olivia had been asleep in Ron's room for hours and would be staying the night at the Burrow.

* * *

"Well, I'm going to shove off then," Ron nodded. He seemed to be at a loss for words around her now. She sighed and left through the front door without another look back. Hermione walked slowly to the edge of the Burrow's property. She stopped for a moment, wrapping her arms around herself against the cold, looking up at the clear, starry sky. The Burrow was dark and silent, everyone had gone to bed. She wished to be as at peace as the rest of them. Just as she was about to disapparate, there was a rustling behind her. Hermione turned to see a tall redhead walking towards her.

"Hermione, what are you doing?"

"I'm leaving, Fred. I'll be back to pick up my daughter in the morning." She wasn't sure why she was being so cold towards him. This was her fault.

"No, Hermione, _what are you doing?_" Both were silent for a moment.

"This is very difficult, Fred…"

"Yes, it is. You're right. Imagine having to pull your little brother through a particularly depressing part of his life, knowing all the while that you are to blame for it." His voice was harsh against the stillness of the night.

"Fred…"

"No, Hermione. This is miserable; you were right. We are going to tear my family apart. And, Merlin's beard, of course I'm happy that you've taken the first step in this. But what are your plans? Wait until Ron finally feels a bit better and then unleash a whole new bloody hell on him?"

"I just don't know what to do! Would you like to tell him? Just prance on up and say, '_hey mate, I stole your girl way back last summer and then, oh here's the kicker, I got her pregnant!'"_ Hermione had become rather hysterical. Her eyes were shining with tears, and she hadn't realized she had raised her voice. Fred immediately put his hands on either side of her face, his voice much softer when he spoke.

"Hermione," he sighed. Before he could say anything else, a light outside of the Burrow shone suddenly on the two of them. Hermione jumped away from Fred, blinking in the sudden brightness. Her breath caught in her throat. Standing in the open front door of the Burrow was a very shell-shocked Ron. He was looking between the two of them, bewildered. As he stepped forward, Hermione saw Ginny and Harry behind him. Apparently not everyone in the house had been asleep. Ginny was fuming, moving her eyes back and forth between Hermione and Fred, seemingly unsure which she should unleash her anger on first. Harry looked only at Hermione. The concern she'd seen in his eyes had been replaced by something very akin to disappointment. She had to look away from him. As she did, she saw Ron walking slowly towards the two of them. His eyes were glistening - he'd clearly heard the whole conversation. Hermione moved forward just as Ron reached them, no words coming from her mouth.

In the space of a heartbeat, the glistening in Ron's eyes hardened. He looked away from Hermione and focused his attention on Fred. Before anything could be said, Ron's fist flew through the air, landing with a deafening crack just below Fred's right eye. The older Weasley crumpled to the ground and several things happened at once. Ginny shrieked, Harry rushed over intending to hold Ron back should he try to strike again, Fred groaned out something along the lines of, "bloody hell, guess I deserved that one, mate," and Ron straightened up, looking at Hermione again.

"Like I said before, Hermione, is there something else you're not telling me?"

* * *

_Well, this chapter was ridiculously difficult for me to write, for many reasons. But mostly because I have an obsessively inappropriate crush on Rupert Grint, and I started to feel like I was personally breaking up with him. _

_...Yes, I am still single... why do you ask? ;) Stay tuned!_


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

"Just go, Hermione! I'll deal with it right now," Fred had staggered to his feet, rubbing the side of his face that had received all of Ron's anger. Hermione didn't move at first, just took in the scene around her. Ron and Fred were now staring at each other as the latter continued to rub the now angry red welt on his face. Harry struggled to hold Ron's arms behind his back, and Ginny advanced on Fred pointing a finger into his chest and screaming words Hermione couldn't make out in the confusion. Behind them all, lights were coming on in the Burrow and suddenly they could all hear Mrs. Weasley as she rushed through the front door.

"What's going on here? Fred? Harry? Ron?" She was pulling an old robe tight around her waist as she rushed into the frigid winter air. Hermione glanced at Fred again; he motioned at her to leave, and this time she didn't think twice. She knew what needed to be done. Hermione ran as quickly as she could around the group in front of her and past Mr. and Mrs. Weasley who were too focused on the others to notice her. Just as she reached the door, both Percy and George were rushing toward the commotion, confusion on their faces. George reached out as Hermione tried to scoot past him.

"Hermione, what happened?" She looked at him quickly and then back towards Fred.

"It's a mess… George… a _huge_ mess," she trailed off and looked into his eyes. He nodded imperceptibly and looked at her with understanding. He knew. Fred had told him, how could she think he wouldn't have? At that moment, she silently thanked him for doing so.

"Tell him I'm sorry. Tell them all I'm sorry, _please_," she turned to go into the house, but George grabbed her upper arm and stopped her where she stood.

"Everyone will understand eventually, you know. You can tell them then… it just might take awhile." She shook her head and pulled her arm free of his grasp, running for the stairs. Hermione bounded up the steps, two at a time, all the way to the top of the Burrow and into Ron's old room. She took a few deep breaths at the sight of her child still sleeping soundly in a crib near Ron's bed. She shut the door, elated that George had not followed her. She could hear shouting outside but couldn't make out what was said from the several voices yelling over one another.

She walked forward and leaned over the crib. She slid both hands beneath her child trying not to awaken her, even though she was sure it would happen very soon. With Olivia hugged tightly to her chest, Hermione shut her eyes tightly. With a pop, she had apparated into her flat. At the sound, Olivia stirred in her arms, opening both eyes slowly. Hermione rocked her back and forth, humming quietly in the hopes that she would quickly drift back to sleep. For a few moments all was quiet; Olivia's eyes shot across the room taking in her surroundings. But suddenly, as though finally realizing she was rudely awakened, she let out a long wail. It quickly turned into hysterical crying, not helping to ease the same hysteria that Hermione was currently feeling. This would make the process a bit more difficult, but thank Merlin for magic.

As Hermione continued to rock her crying child in one arm, she used the other to pull her wand from the inside of her robes. She conjured a large bag from the hall closet and began pointing the wand at anything she might possibly need. She stopped first in Olivia's room. Diapers, clothing, toys flew from the room and into the bag in the hallway, magically shrinking to fit. She rushed to her own bedroom, sending clothes, picture frames, a few books into the bag with the rest. She rushed into the bathroom, the kitchen, the family room, frantically packing away anything she might need and feeling as though she were running out of time to make her escape. When everything she thought she might need was securely packed away, she pointed her wand at the bag itself, shrinking it to fit inside her pocket.

Suddenly all was quiet. Hermione looked down at Olivia, locking eyes with her daughter who had become suddenly quite serene. She took this as a sign that she was making the right choice. It might be a long shot, but at this point she would take anything. She drew in a few deep breaths, looking around the room and memorizing each square inch. She recalled all of the memories she'd made in the short time here - with Ron, with her daughter…. with Fred. She glanced at the sofa behind her remembering vividly how, not long ago, she watched as Fred sat there learning he was the father of her child. She drew in yet another shuddering breath, closing her eyes. Just as she was envisioning her next apparition point, she heard a loud pop on the other side of the door. Someone had apparated to the flat, just outside in the hallway. She held her breath. A frenzied pounding was unleashed against the door.

"Hermione? Hermione! Let me in, please. We can talk about whatever it is that's happened." Harry. He had probably come as soon as the others had torn Ron away from Fred. She felt a moment of hesitation. Harry was absolutely her best friend, the only one who might understand how things had gotten so out of control so quickly. She walked towards the door slowly.

"Hermione?" He called again. She reached a hand out, placing it against the doorknob. Olivia stayed silent, almost as though she understood the importance of not making a sound. Hermione rested her forehead against the door, hand still on the knob.

"Harry," she whispered. Somehow he heard her.

"Hermione? Hermione, let me in. We need to talk," he trailed off, expecting to hear the click of the door opening. Hermione felt even worse, knowing that Harry could have simply apparated inside the apartment. He was giving her the chance to let him in on her own.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. She turned away from the door, closed her eyes and disapparated with a loud CRACK before he could respond.

* * *

It was a very small town. Snow fell across the cobblestone sidewalks as quietly and peacefully as though nothing could ever disturb it. Hermione walked out from the alleyway she'd apparated into, Olivia snuggled close to her chest against the cold. She was quite lucky that all of this had happened so late in the evening. Otherwise she could have easily apparated in sight of a Muggle or two. This was, after all, a completely non-magical neighborhood.

Celo. It had a nice ring to it. A small town in Surrey, ironically not far from where Harry had grown up in Little Whinging. Of course, neither one of them had ever met here. Harry was rarely allowed outside of Privet Drive and the last time Hermione has visited Celo was well before she knew that Hogwarts and the magical world even existed. Her mother had grown up here. She'd come to visit her grandparents on only a few occasions before they passed away. It was the only place she'd thought of once she realized she needed to leave the Wizarding world. No one would ever know to find her here; she had never spoken of her grandparents or any of her family other than her parents. She could lose herself in this Muggle world. No one, Fred or Ron or Harry or Ginny, would ever be able to find her here.

She walked down the sidewalk slowly, noticing that somehow Olivia had fallen asleep nestled against her. She knew there was a small Inn at the end of the street where she could rent a room for a few nights until she found more suitable living conditions. She took in her surroundings; it was a beautiful place, she'd thought so even as a young girl. It was a wonderful area to raise a child, peaceful and friendly. But she would have to give up magic. She couldn't risk being detected, and she would be surrounded by too many Muggles to not be noticed as odd. She would chance it once more in the morning to apparate into Diagon Alley and visit Gringotts. She would extract all of her savings, close her account and get back to this town as quickly as possible. And then she would start her new life. Just herself and Olivia. She'd lived as a Muggle once for eleven years without ever knowing the Wizarding world existed… with what was at stake, she could certainly do it again.

* * *

_Very short chapter, I know. Bit of a bridge between the last one and the next one. More to come soon, I promise!  
Thank you so, so, **so** much to those of you that review and keep me going. Some of the most recent reviews I received were seriously amazing... Really made me feel good about this story and I'm so excited to see it through to the end. You're all the best!_


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